Remember Me
by VampireBasket
Summary: Sequel to Erase Me / With all memories of her time with Akatsuki erased, what happens when a certain blonde akatsuki member is held captive in the mist and the interogation team rope her in to help? Does she remember them, or turn her back on them forever? / Rated M for language-(Mainly Hidan). DeiXOC, AkatsukiXOC
1. Unexplained Over-Protection

**A/N: **Heyyy so I'm redoing the sequel because I didn't like the way the other one was going and I don't think anyone else did either since there was hardly any reviews.

I hope I don't disappoint this time… please keep me posted on how I'm doing, there's no point me continuing this story if no one likes it…

So same again, if you haven't read Erase Me, this isn't gonna make much sense half the time but I'm happy to answer any questions either via reviews or messaging whatever.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, only the OCs.

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**Unexplained Over-protection**

The mist was thick. Thicker than it normally was. The Mizukage had ordered extra guard patrol since the attack on the village watchtowers two weeks ago, so Haru often found himself incapacitated and therefore withdrawn from his self-assigned duty of keeping an eye on his teal-haired friend. Despite his best efforts, he was forced to remain loyal to his leader's orders over his own, so rarely saw Akira these days.

Like the extreme weather, Akira's head was dull and hazy from her increasing lack of sleep, and on this particular morning, she found herself sitting on her wide windowsill hugging her knees, and watching an oblivious Haru in the distance on his patrol.

She missed his company, and wished she could talk to him again about her increasing concern of the reoccurring dream. She avoided sleep as much as possible, because the night only brought back the faces.

They had agreed to tell no one that she had recognised the blonde intruder that had entered the village, although his partner was unfamiliar. She'd had short red hair that flicked out in all directions, with bright amber eyes that seemed to glow as they glared out from under her spiky fringe.

The attack had been a strange one. The intruding pair had invaded the village for no reason other than to wreak havoc and cause wide-spread fear among the villagers according to the Mizukage. It had, however, been an organised attack. One had taken to the skies and blown up several of their village defence buildings, while the other had broken into two weapon storage compartments in the Kage tower and completely destroyed their supply, leaving them extremely vulnerable should any other enemy forces come calling.

They had taken nothing and attacked no one but the watchtowers, simply entered the village and left again. But why? There was a hushed rumour circulating the higher-level ninja's that they were from an S-rank criminal group and had possibly come looking for someone or something. The Jinchuuriki were their first guess, but since Yagura had long since been captured, and Utakata had not been seen for several months (presumed also captured), they dismissed that thought.

Their next idea was that they were assessing their defence levels and planning some sort of sneak attack in an attempt to capture the Mizukage. But something about that just didn't seem right. According to Intel, they'd left almost as quickly as they'd come.

From her seat in the window, Akira began to draw the red cloud pattern in condensation with her forefinger, which she'd seen on their cloaks. She sighed and scrubbed it away, swinging her legs off the windowsill and pottered into the hall to get her coat. Haru may be on duty, but she could still accidentally on-purpose bump into her friend on a fresh morning stroll.

She found him easily, pacing back and forth beneath the Kage building. His eyes lit up as she approached, a grin forming on his pale face.

'Hey, stranger,' he called merrily, a cloud of vapour puffing from his mouth as his breath met the cold air.

'Long time no see,' she offered him a sad smile, rubbing her arms to keep warm.

'What brings you outside in this temperature?'

'I just had to get out of the house. I haven't slept much and I was bored…' She leaned against the building tiredly, twisting a loose piece of hair between her fingers. 'How's Kage-watch going?'

'Just wonderful… It's simply thrilling standing around in the freezing cold all day!' He rolled his eyes sarcastically and she grinned.

'Well it's a good job I bumped into you then isn't it!' Reaching into her coat, she pulled out a silver flask and, unscrewing the lid, offered him a cup.

'So what really brings you out here, then?' Haru lifted his chocolate brown eyes from the small plastic cup now filled with steaming tea. She met his gaze momentarily before dropping her head to watch her feet as she rolled a stone beneath her left foot.

'I needed to talk to you. About two weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about it and it's scaring me…' Her tone was hushed and she kept her face down as she spoke. 'What if, I mean, in the past… What if I did something terrible? Why else would I erase my own memories?'

Her friend took a small sip from his cup before reaching out to take her hand, giving it a small squeeze. 'Don't assume the worst. If they really are from…' He paused to glance around him, lowering his voice to barely a whisper as his spoke again. '…The Akatsuki, then who knows what happened to you. Besides, that was two years ago! A lot has changed since then, and you're not a bad person. I don't think you ever could be.'

She gave another small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and pulled back her hand, awkwardly stuffing it into her pocket as if to warm it up. 'I can't believe everyone's still on such a high alert. I mean, yeah they attacked and the reason is unknown, but they're gone now and there's been no sign of them coming back yet so why keep upping the guard patrols?'

Her friend's expression darkened as he looked at her, something hidden behind his chocolate brown eyes that she wasn't sure whether or not she had imagined.

'I don't know. Maybe I'm just underestimating them.' She tucked the hair she'd begun playing with again behind her ear and grinned. 'Besides, I guess you can never be too over-protective in this world.'

Haru snorted. 'You sound like my mom…'

Akira laughed at a vague memory of the eccentric and exaggeratedly maternal woman that was Haru's mum. Despite her over-the-top motherly fussing, Makito really was a very likable character and Akira had often found herself seeking her company when she was feeling lonely or left-out.

'Actually, there _is_ something else.' Haru's voice broke her out of her daydream and her gaze flickered to meet his troubled one. He seemed torn, as though debating letting her in on some great internal secret he had.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, there's another reason for all this guard duty. It's not just to protect the Mizukage or the village…' He hesitated, taking a long, drawn out sip from his flask before finally bracing himself to speak again. 'The guards are to protect a prisoner… And by protect, I mean keep from escaping or being rescued.'

Akira blinked at him curiously, waiting patiently for him to continue.

'I really shouldn't be telling you this but I think you need to know. One of the Akatsuki that attacked the village two weeks ago was tracked down a few days later. The squad that traced him managed to subdue him and bring him back to the village. He's been in interrogation ever since…'

Her eyes widened as realisation dawned on her. 'H-him? You mean…'

He nodded, biting his lip as he watched her reaction anxiously. She stared furiously at her feet, her confusion and inner turmoil perfectly evident on her pretty features.

She made no move to reply, so after a few more long moments, Haru sighed. 'I spoke to the Mizukage, she knows about your, erm, dream…'

Blue eyes snapped up at this, shock and slight betrayal flickering across her face at his confession. But she softened almost immediately, obviously understanding his reasoning, especially under the circumstances. 'And? What did she say?'

'She wasn't happy at first, she thought it was suspicious. But I talked her round, she knows you have no idea what happened in the past and I politely reminded her that it's not your fault what you dream about… She didn't want you to know that they had the prisoner, but I didn't agree… Obviously.'

She nodded slowly, her mind reeling. 'I think… I need to speak to her.'

For a moment, she thought he was going to protest, but he suddenly threw her a quick reassuring smile. 'Okay. I'll come with you.'

********** Elsewhere **********

'Jashin-damn-it I'm bored. I'm so fucking bored, damn it.'

'Yes, you may have mentioned that once or twice, Idiot. Now shut up while I count…'

Hidan scowled at his partner as he watched him lay out several piles of notes onto the larger coffee table in the room.

From across the room, Kisame groaned. 'Why do you _always_ have to use that one? What's wrong with the floor? Or, oh I don't know, you room?!'

'Why does it bother you so much, Fish face? You're not even using a table.' Kakuzu growled at the blue man as he watched small white eyes narrow in his direction.

'Because if I wanted to use a table, _that_ would be the one I'd use.'

'Will you guys all just quit your whining and shut the hell up?!' A new face entered the room, scowling at them with piercing amber eyes. She ran a hand through her short hair and slumped into a worn-looking cream couch.

'Piss off, shorty. No one asked you!' Hidan glowered, his magenta eyes flashing in irritation at the red head.

'Geez, alright Zombie! Don't get your knickers in a twist. What's new anyway? Heard anything from above?'

Kisame tutted. 'Not a single thing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! Although Itachi reckons he'll make a move soon. He's just as bored as we are…'

'I was talking about news on my stupid partner _actually_.'

As if on cue, the raven-haired member drifted in through the doorway and perched on the edge of a chair. Behind him came Pein and Konan, with Zetsu nowhere to be seen.

'Kiri, since you're so eager to find him why don't you go look for him yourself?' Kakuzu snapped, obviously trying to kill their annoying conversation while he was busily adding up his profit from his recent bounty drop-off.

Kiri opened her mouth to throw back a sarcastic response, but a dark figure dressed mostly in black entered the room, silencing the group and immediately gaining their full attention. His head turned to scan the room briefly before nodding once at Pein to begin the meeting.

'Some of you may be aware that we have been missing a member for the past week or so. There are rumours being passed through the Hidden Rain that he has either been killed or simply defected from the organisation. However, I believe neither to be true.'

There were a few cautious glances around the room as their orange-topped senior continued. 'As Konan mentioned earlier this week, there has been no signs of a battle and as we all know it would be difficult to cover up since his method of destruction is, well, extremely destructive.'

'Doesn't prove he hasn't done a runner though…' Hidan muttered, clearly already bored with the topic.

'Deidara may be impulsive but he is not stupid. He knows better than to, as you say, 'do a runner', Hidan.'

The Jashinist scoffed but didn't bother with an intelligible response.

'We have reason to believe he is being held captive somewhere in or around the Land of Water. Therefore, we are deploying two teams to gather information on this theory. Itachi and Kisame will head to the border between Fire and Water, but do not cross the water. I want you to scan the length of the shoreline and report back as soon as possible. Hidan and Kakuzu, you two will cross the water and search on the actual island.'

The blue-haired woman beside him stepped forward at this point, offering some words of friendly advice. 'As hard as this will be for you especially Hidan, it would be best if you could resist drawing attention to yourselves, and do your utmost to avoid coming into direct contact with the hidden villages.'

'Seems like a lot of effort to go to for the sake of that one fool…' Kakuzu grumbled, stuffing several pouches of money into his cloak pockets.

'It's not necessarily the individual, it's the information they could gather should they manage to access it.' Pein pursed his lips thoughtfully, but a quick nod of agreement from his partner convinced him to continue. 'We also have reason to believe that a certain ex-member may be residing within the land of Water. If our sources are correct, then her ability to enter minds and memories could seriously compromise our position.'

'No way. Akira would never willingly–'

'You are forgetting, Kisame, that she has no idea that she ever held any loyalties to the Akatsuki.'

The blue man huffed in resignation, realising that Pein was indeed right, glaring slightly when he spoke again for the final time.

'Which leads me to my final point. Should any of you come into contact with said ex-member, you are to treat her with the same attitude you would with the enemy. She is no longer an ally of the Akatsuki.'

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**A/N: **So a few things to note about this sequel, it's two years later, so Akira is 22, Deidara is 25, and Kiri is 18, thought I'd throw her age in since she's new.

Please review and let me know if you like it or I'll probably just end up scrapping this one too! :/


	2. The Mizukage's Plan

**A/N:**So here we go with Chapter 2, I'm much happier with the plan for this version of the sequel.

I am considering posting as much as I'd done on the previous version though, just so people can see where I was going with it as there were some fluffy moments in it, but I don't know. What do you guys think?

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Naruto, though if I did I would be a very chuffed little cookie.

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**The Mizukage's Plan**

There was a surprisingly long line of people waiting to speak to the Mizukage. Akira wondered absently whether it was always like this, or whether it was just due to the recent chain of events involving and resulting in an increasing amount of guards and a considerable lack of missions.

She fumbled impatiently with her ticket that held her number in the line to see the infamous lava-spitting Mist village Kage. She was number 37, though she figured there was probably about that many people in the room as it was. Haru sat silently beside her, twiddling his thumbs and pretending to look casual, even though they both knew very well that they were equally practically shaking in their seats with a combination of anticipation and nervousness.

There wasn't much of a waiting room, just a wide-set corridor with a few benches and a small wooden desk where two Jounin sat slumped in worn-looking office chairs, occasionally standing to issue a ticket when a new person joined the queue.

After a few minutes, the door to the Kage office opened and two young genin skipped out, ridiculous goofy grins plastered over each of their faces, giggling as though they had just met their favourite celebrity.

'Number 22? Number 22, please.' One of the bored looking Jounin stood wearily from behind the ticket collection desk, gesturing for the next in line to enter the office.

Akira sighed and leaned her head back against the wall she was leaning against, forcing herself to relax as she realised this could take much longer than she had hoped. Time ticked by and the minutes turned to hours, until finally, almost two hours later, their number was called.

Haru had managed to drift off sometime during the wait, so she prodded her dozing friend lightly on the arm and headed for the door.

The Mizukage greeted them with a disinterested wave and indicated for them to sit. Akira had to smile at the woman, it was three in the afternoon and she was probably knackered from keeping up her professional façade in front of all the villagers. But it made her feel slightly warm at the idea that the Mizukage trusted them enough to drop her act. _Ah well. Not for long…_

'So, Haru, Akira. What brings you two to the party?' She rested her head against her hands, leaning forward on her elbows and letting her eyelids droop slightly.

Haru gave Akira a wary sideways glance, who audibly swallowed in response.

'Couldn't keep your mouth shut huh, Haru?' The Kage's visible green eye remained cool, making it apparent that she had expected him to blab all along, and clearly wasn't too fussed about it. Either that or she just couldn't be bothered getting angry right now.

He gave an awkward laugh and lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck. 'Y-yeah, ha, sorry about that milady…'

The auburn-haired woman rolled her eyes and slumped backwards in her seat, crossing her arms comfortably over her chest. 'Come on then, what're you after?'

Now it was Akira's turn, so she sucked in a breath as she prepared to speak. However, when she tried to form words, she found herself struggling for a sentence. 'W-well, I… Um, I guess I just… Erm,' She paused from her stuttering, frowning as she realised to her embarrassment that she wasn't actually sure why she had come to see her.

She closed her eyes briefly to compose herself, deciding to just speak her mind. 'It sounds a bit crazy… But I don't really know what I want to hear. When Haru told me about the erm, the prisoner…' She resisted a grimace at the title that somehow seemed like somewhat of a swear word. 'I guess I'm just confused. With the whole reoccurring dream thing.'

The fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was not an unkind woman. She was, in fact, considerably open-minded and easy-going, and so as she watched the poor, seemingly innocent girl stumbling over her words before her, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

'I suppose it would be rather confusing for you. I can't imagine possessing such a jutsu myself, to be able to erase my very own memories…' She 'hmm'ed thoughtfully before continuing. 'Have you ever, to your knowledge, performed such a technique on yourself previously?'

Akira immediately shook her head. 'No, never. As far as I'm aware I have all of my other memories perfectly in tact.'

Haru made an amused sound from her side, distracting her momentarily, but she pressed on determinedly. 'I just don't understand why I would do such a thing. What could have been so terrible…?'

Haru cocked his head to peek at her questioningly as her voice trailed off.

Mei strummed her fingers softly against her desk, a habit she had developed when she was deep in thought. When her hand stilled, she stood quietly and moved to stand beside Akira, placing a hand lightly on the girls shoulder upon arrival.

'I have an idea, though you may not like it. Hell, it's a pretty risky idea actually and I know for a fact I'll have to bat my eyelashes at quite a few people to get them to turn a blind eye, but I've learned to trust my instincts over the years.'

The young pair exchanged nervous glances, earning a smirk from the Mizukage. 'Don't worry; you can refuse if you wish. But I hope you'll hear me out.'

********** Later that evening **********

'Well, it's time. Are you sure you want to do this, Akira?'

She pulled on her favourite navy jacket and absently pulled a few loose strands of hair out of its furry hood, before she hesitantly stepped through her door to meet Haru on the doorstep. 'I'm sure.'

She chewed her lip as they walked in silence back to the Kage tower. She _wasn't_ sure that she wanted to do this; she just knew that she had to do something, and this seemed like her only option to date.

Mei was waiting patiently for them outside her office, and she jumped up from flirting with the young receptionist at their approach.

'You haven't changed your mind then?' She addressed the blue-eyed girl, flicking her auburn hair over her shoulder as she offered them a smile.

'Apparently not…' Haru muttered. He was pretty sure this was probably the greatest risk Akira had taken since arriving in the Mist village, and he was absolutely positive that the Mizukage knew this too. Needless to say, he wasn't particularly thrilled with the plan.

'Alright, then I'll lead the way.'

They trundled after her obediently, following the twists and turns she made throughout the tower until she led them down a lifetime's worth of stairs and into the deepest level of basement the building had to offer. And by basement, Akira noted, they actually meant dungeon.

The dungeon was true to its name. It consisted mainly of one long hallway with stonewall dividers built to separate each piece of 'equipment', ranging from restraint racks to cages of scuttling red-eyed, mutant rats. There was an overpowering stench of rotting flesh that was so strong it stung Akira's eyes and numbed almost all her senses. It amazed her how unnoticeable this atmosphere was around the rest of the tower. Gritting her teeth, her breathing shallowed as she fought the urge to gasp and desperately resisted the need to clamp her fingers over her nose.

Seeing right through her attempted brave façade, Haru gently brushed his shoulder against hers reassuringly as they continued down the seemingly endless corridor, which led to the occupied prison cells. Her eyes flickered briefly in his direction but she was far to busy holding her breath to respond.

'Don't worry, it's not as bad in the cells.' Mei mumbled, making it apparent that Haru wasn't the only one to see through her act. She managed a small nod.

Finally, they arrived at an arched metal door, which the Mizukage had to unlock in several places and perform a complicated looking hand sign before it could be hauled open. As she had promised, it was much easier to breathe on the other side, and Akira couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.

They stopped outside the first cell. The bars across the high viewing window were old and rusted, but the faint blue glow around the edges confirmed that the unit was built to withstand heavy chakra blows.

Mei withdrew an equally rustic looking set of keys from her pocket, and selected the longer, thicker key of the bunch. It clunked inside the keyhole as she fiddled with the lock, having to reinsert it once or twice, its rust evidentially making it difficult to open.

Finally, it clicked.

'I'll go in first, make sure everything's in order, then I'll come back for you.' With one final glance over her shoulder at the fidgeting pair, Mei disappeared behind the door, closing it gently after her.

They both stood in silence, staring anxiously at the closed door.

'Are you alright?' Haru whispered, breaking the tension.

She looked him in the eye, not bothering to hide the unease on her features and matching his volume as she replied. 'No… But I have to do this. I _need_ to…'

He nodded in understanding. 'Do you want me to come in with you?'

She thought for a moment, but decided against it and shook her head slowly. Haru didn't have to see this, it was bad enough that she had agreed to it, so the smaller the audience, the better.

He seemed disappointed with her answer, but respected her decision and fixed his vision back on the chakra infused door, silently praying for it not to open.

When it did, Mei's expression was the first thing that hit them. She was almost glaring and her green eyes had narrowed into slits as she beckoned for Akira to enter.

Gulping loudly and trying desperately to appear indifferent, she crossed the threshold and entered the dark cell.

It was much bigger than she had expected, almost matching the size of the Kage office, which surprised her. Though it was quite dimly lit by only four wall-mounted candles, she could easily make out three dark silhouettes resembling a bed, a simple chair and a toilet.

The atmosphere was musky and damp, and though the scent of the room definitely held an strong element of blood, she realised, with relief, it was nothing she couldn't cope with.

Then she saw him. The _prisoner_. The man from her dream. No, not dream, her reoccurring _nightmare_. He was chained tightly against the far wall, light graze-like cuts crisscrossing around his wrists from where the cuffs had rubbed harshly against his skin. Her eyes landed on a glowing blue band on each forearm, which she decided where the chakra-draining devices they used to subdue and restrain their captives.

He shifted slightly, making her jump and almost gasp out loud, and her eyes flickered up to his face. His eyes were closed and his head was hanging down so his chin touched his chest, with long, dirty blonde hair covering the left side of his face. He didn't seem to be aware of anyone even being present in the room with him, but then again, he probably had other things on his mind. The chakra sucking mechanisms probably weren't helping his sensing abilities either to be fair.

The Mizukage cleared her throat gently, gaining Akira's belated attention. Their eyes locked and Mei's expression softened instantly. She nodded her head in the man's direction in unspoken encouragement, and moved slowly to sit on the chair in the corner, letting Akira take the stage.

When she finally forced herself to turn back to the subject, to her horror and discomfort, she found him staring straight back. For a moment, she froze. Something hauntingly familiar about the way he was staring sent shivers up her spine and made her want to run and hide. It would be a lie to say that she was not afraid of this man, but neither would it be correct to say that she wasn't intrigued by him.

Mei, sensing the strange change in atmosphere, shuffled in her seat and watched, fascinated. Her movement seemed to bring the man back to earth, and he dropped his head once again to stare at the floor.

But, in that split second before he did, Akira was sure, absolutely positive that she saw him smirk. Even if only for a millisecond.

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**A/N:**Yeah, so as you can tell I've completely change the direction of this already. As much as it pains me to think I'm having to start this over, I think it was the right decision.

God, that sounded so pretentious. Shutting up now.

Peace out.


	3. Find Your Voice

**A/N:** Managed to accidentally punch the corner of the radiator earlier, damn thing came out of nowhere and attacked me. But I continued to type through the pain and have finally been able to produce this lovely little chapter in addition to my story…

Hope my pain was worth it!

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**Find Your Voice**

When Mei finally decided that Akira was officially stumped and had no idea or courage to make her first move, she attempted to try to break the horrifically tense atmosphere. Clearing her throat, she stood and moved swiftly to stand beside the younger girl, patting her on the shoulder and giving her a gentle nudge.

'Have you changed your mind? You don't have to–'

Akira immediately snapped to attention, shaking her head furiously. 'No, no I haven't. I haven't, I'm okay.' She started to move towards the man, her steps faltering as his eyes met her once again. He didn't bother to lift his head, simply took to watching her cautious approach from beneath his long fringe. He seemed almost… amused?

Finally she forced herself to crouch before him, bending her knees to sit back on her heels as she stared him down stubbornly, but he didn't look away. She fisted her hands into tight, tense balls at her sides, before clenching her teeth and willing one hand to lift.

Her fingers edged toward his forehead, mere inches from their destination, when he suddenly gave a short snicker, scaring the life out of her. She stumbled backwards and landed on her bum with an 'oof', scrabbling to sit forward again.

Mei was beside her in an instant, concern flickering through her green irises, and though she made no further moves she stayed beside them, observing curiously.

When Akira had rebalanced, all the humour had fallen from his face and he now glared accusingly at the older woman.

Mei's expression was just as hostile, but backed away slightly to allow Akira to continue.

The blonde's attention flicked back to her, a slight frown forming on his features. He made an annoyed sound as her hand resumed its journey and he rolled his eyes, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. 'For God's sake will you get on with it, yeah?'

Akira blinked, jaw almost hitting the floor and she heard the Mizukage gasp from behind her.

'I-I'm sorry… What?' The girl stuttered, not really expecting him to reply.

He huffed impatiently, chains clunking as he repositioned himself again. 'I'm going numb here yeah, hurry up and do your thing so I can get out of these things already.'

It was only then that it occurred to her that the chains were probably only there as a precaution while she was 'doing her thing'. That made sense, she supposed, though he had enough leniency to stand, it wasn't exactly like he could lie on the bed chained to the wall like that.

'Erm, right…' She mumbled, shuffling closer on her knees and reaching out for the third time.

She touched her fingers lightly to his temples just below his headband, applying slight pressure as she moved them to rest just under the material. Strangely, he closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose, as though completely comfortable with the situation and almost as though he knew exactly what to expect.

A pale glow began to form around her two forefingers, and with that, she was in. The only way to describe her experience inside another's memories, was as though she was standing in a spotlight of a dark room, surrounded in a library's worth of papers fluttering and dancing around her face, each piece containing a story, like individual parts of a puzzle that made up his life.

She started to skim them rapidly, in an attempt to search for anything of relevance when the swirling papers suddenly froze, with one, larger sheet hovering before her. Confused, she reached out to it, her eyes widening as she watched its content unfold willingly before her eyes. The page was coloured in black and red scribbles, vaguely resembling blood splotches, contorted with the Akatsuki symbol. But the most horrifying thing on the page, was the small, orange swirl that featured dead in the centre of the collage.

She stumbled backwards in the darkness, starting to wonder whether this was a good idea or not. Panic engulfed her and she moved to release herself, but another sheet of paper followed her, forcing its way into her view. This one was different, it was an actual memory.

He was in a room full of people, strange people, all dressed in the same styled cloaks with the red cloud symbol. Her eyes flickered around the room and landed on a young girl sat in the corner, fiddling with her hands and looking very out of place. That was _her_!

As quickly as the previous one, another paper shot into her sight, drawing her in before she had a chance to escape. Akira was there again, right before her eyes, or rather, _his_ eyes, since the memory was from his perspective. The room was circular, resembling that of a training ring of some sort, and she was standing in her battle position, one hand fumbling in her pocket before quickly pulling out to reveal her trusty old whistle.

She was so enthralled with the scene before her that she barely noticed when the next one came into view. Once again, she found herself staring into her own eyes, but there was something different about her this time. She was smiling, laughing actually, tugging on a loose strand of hair casually as she sat cross-legged on a bench in that same training room. A hand, _his_ hand, reached forward to tuck it behind her ear, earning another laugh from herself as he made some lame joke about how it would all fall out if she kept playing with it like that…

That was it, she couldn't take it anymore. Batting away the pages she clamped her hands together and formed her release sign desperately. But it didn't work.

A throbbing pain began to form behind her eyes which she would usually recognise as the 'host' resisting her intrusive jutsu, but something about this pain told her he wasn't letting her go. She scrunched her eyes up and tried to steady her breathing. She had to stay calm if she wanted to get out of this.

Something warm and sickly blew across her face, and her eyes snapped back open to meet two yellow-gold irises, lined with purple staring back at her. _Who the hell is this?_

The figure chuckled cruelly, and she froze at the feeling of cold, sharp metal against her throat. She realised a second later that she was in another memory, except, this one wasn't one of his, as she was looking through her own eyes. _Is this… one of my own?_ The vision answered for her, as the blonde in question, flanked by three other 'Akatsuki' members charged into the room behind the yellow eyed stranger.

'Itachi, Kisame, Deidara. How nice of you to join us,' The stranger's cruel voice rang out, a vice like grip on her shoulder tightening.

'Orochimaru.' The first spat out, conveying a considerable amount of hatred.

'You gonna give us a hint as to what we owe the pleasure?' The blue man, who she recognised vaguely from the bingo books as Kisame, an ex-Mist nin, kept his voice low and collected, yet possibly the most terrifying that Akira had ever heard. His small beady eyes were narrowed and deadly.

The blonde opened his mouth several times but it immediately snapped shut again, seemingly unable to formulate a suitable string of words through his apparent fury.

The papers fluttered again, surrounding her and clouding her vision. Hot, salty tears began to form behind her eyes, she was, undoubtedly, terrified and completely and utterly confused.

Suddenly everything dropped, drifting softly to land in a scattered mess around her feet and the throbbing pain vanished. Jumping at the chance, she slapped her hands together in another attempt at escape, and almost cried for joy when the familiar wind rippled through her hair and left a funny whirring sound in her ears.

'Akira? Are you with us? Are you okay?' The Mizukage's worried voice was music to her ears and she blinked several times to clear the darkness. Light poured in and she sighed in relief.

Her hand recoiled from the prisoner's forehead as though it had burned her and she leapt to her feet to face the cell door – her escape route – a little too quickly. She wobbled with the sudden head rush and someone caught her arm from behind to steady her, which was weird, because Mei was now in front of her.

She spun around, still a little disoriented, and was stunned to find the blonde man watching her with a cautious, almost concerned expression. He withdrew his hand from her arm slowly, and slumped back down his sitting position on the floor.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

'I think we should go.'

Akira nodded eagerly and backed away warily, her eyes only leaving his when she was safely on the other side of the door.

Haru all but flew to her side, placing both hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. 'What happened? Are you alright? You were longer than I thought, was everything okay?'

'Haru!' The Mizukage barked, shutting him up and practically prying his hands from the shaking girl's shoulders. 'We'll discuss this later.'

Akira gulped, knowing very well that Mei had been addressing her. She trailed after the auburn-haired woman like a zombie, keeping her gaze firmly straight ahead as she refused to meet Haru's questioning glances.

After what seemed like a lifetime, they arrived at the main office, and Mei turned to a now very agitated Haru.

'I would like to speak to Akira for a moment in my office, alone. You may wait out here.'

Before he could even protest, the pair disappeared behind the door, and the jounin seated at the desk beside him smiled and offered him a drink.

********** Inside the office **********

'So, Akira.' The woman's smiley demeanour had long since faded, and though she remained perfectly calm, it was obvious she was troubled. 'What exactly just happened?'

'I don't think I'm entirely sure, Milady…'

Mei sighed, and rubbed her temples lightly. 'Alright, why don't you start from the top?'

And so for the next few minutes, Akira explained in great detail as much as she could, leaving out only minor facts such as the moment in the training room and her smiling and laughing, and concluded with a long drawn out groan of frustration and her head sank into her hands.

'I think I'm even more confused than before. It was so weird, it was like he wanted me to see those things! And when I tried to get out, he held on like there was no tomorrow!'

'Then how did you get out in the end?'

'I'm not sure. He just sort of, dropped everything…' She mentally rolled her eyes at her bad pun that only she could understand.

When her senior failed to respond, she spread her fingers slightly, still over her face, to peep through the gaps. Mei was regarding her carefully, eyebrows knitted together as though in some internal debate with herself. Eventually she relaxed, and sighed in resignation.

'Akira. That man has been in custody for over a week now, and I think you should know, that despite the various interrogation methods my team have supplied, he hadn't actually spoken a single word until today.'

_Maybe the interrogation methods were the problem…_ She thought mentally, but scolded herself immediately after for thinking that way. She had always been too soft, and everyone knew it.

Mei was grumbling something incoherent to herself, strumming her fingers against the desk as she thought. Akira sat watching her uneasily until she returned to Earth.

'I think, perhaps it would be best to keep this to ourselves for now, Akira. You may tell Haru what you wish, but ideally I want this to remain between you and I, and possibly a few of my most trustworthy of my personal guards.'

_Ao._ She thought. _He'll definitely be in on it, he's one of her best_. She didn't particularly like Ao, he gave her the creeps to say the least and he was far too violent for her liking.

'I want you to report back here at 6pm tomorrow evening. I have another plan, but again, you probably won't like it.'

Akira shifted uncomfortably under the Mizukage's cool gaze. Her original plan, for Akira to use her ability on the prisoner to search for any relevant memories, had been in favour of Akira discovering something out about her past. This time though, she feared it would consist of a much more organised and supervised 'search', and with a much more serious intent. Gathering Intel was something Akira was used to, having a Kekkei Genkai that allowed her to enter other people's minds would do that to you. But in this case, she really didn't like the idea of where this was going.

* * *

**A/N: **I have to say, I really have to do a hell of a lot of research on the Mist village and its members/Kage etc. for this story! Good old Narutopedia.

Hope you're liking it so far, don't forget to review or my inspiration ceases to exist!

In a while, crocodile.


	4. Advancements

**A/N: **I want to keep the humour in this story as my other one was a bit depressing, so I'm gonna attempt to throw in a few lame jokes and comments that I find amusing because, let's face it, it doesn't take much to amuse me.

Sorry if my humour makes you want to cry more than my depressing story…

Still a disclaimer. My various plans for kidnapping Kishimoto and claiming Naruto for myself failed so yep, still own nothing.

* * *

**Advancements**

As Mei had promised, Akira really didn't like this plan.

She glared at the Jounin's back in front of her as she traipsed once again down the never-ending staircase and practically ran through the torture corridor. She had reported back to the Kage office at 6pm that evening as requested, and found a small squadron of ninja awaiting her arrival. She had guessed the intention of the plan before any of them could even explain it to her, since the sinking feeling that she'd just been recruited into the interrogation team had haunted her all day.

So here she was. They paused outside the cell and Mei turned to face them. The team consisted of the Mizukage, of course, and three other Jounin males, two of which she had never seen before. The third being Ao, as she had previously suspected.

'Ao, you know the drill. You and Fin will enter first, and if he continues to be uncooperative, and I highly doubt he's had a sudden change of heart overnight, you can call Hotaka and Akira in.'

Akira frowned at this. 'Wait, what about you Milady?'

'I will be in my office. Sorry dear, but I just can't stay with you this time, I have a meeting with the council at 7pm that I simply cannot get out of. Believe me, I tried.'

Akira nodded, disappointed and scared. She didn't want to be left alone with the torture trio, and she chewed her lip nervously as she glanced up at the one they called Hotaka, the one who'd be staying outside with her. He had short, spikey black hair that seemed determined to defy gravity and dark onyx eyes to match. He wasn't smiling, but something about his expression and general demeanour seemed slightly comforting. But only slightly.

Mei bade them 'good luck' and headed back for the stairs, shutting the door to the corridor tightly behind her. She watched her go and, by the time she looked back to the team, two had already disappeared into the prison cell, eager to begin.

The minutes ticked by awkwardly, and Akira mentally thanked God that the prison walls were soundproof, figuring that silence was better than interrogation noises.

'If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?'

She blinked at the man beside her. 'I'm 22.'

'Oh right, okay.' When she continued to gaze at him curiously, he spoke again. 'I was just wondering. You look young, that's all.'

'Is that a problem?' She questioned, accidentally out loud.

'Not at all, it's just unusual to have someone so young join the interrogation team. The youngest member before you is about 35.'

She briefly wondered how old this man was. He didn't look 35 himself, closer to 40 if she had to guess, but she didn't want to offend him so kept her mouth tightly zipped.

'They shouldn't be too much longer. Ao has no patience, and I can tell he's dying to see what you can do that he can't.' Hotaka's expression twisted into a smirk, only softening when he noticed the worried glance she threw at the cell door. 'He's a proud man, he either loves you or hates you, there's no in between with him. But those he's fond of he's very loyal to.'

_Was that supposed to make me feel better_?

She scowled at the floor and twiddled her fingers in a lock of hair. _'If you keep playing with it like that, it'll fall out!'_ Her hand dropped to her side abruptly at the memory now implanted in her mind, making Hotaka flinch slightly at the sudden movement. She was extremely thankful that he chose not to comment.

A few more minutes passed in equal silence to before, until finally, the cell door was yanked open by a furious looking Ao, his mouth set in a harsh thin line.

'Your turn.' He growled, turning on his heel and stalking back into the cell.

They followed cautiously, Akira almost stumbling in her haste to avoid his fury in case it was redirected at her. The layout was identical to yesterday, the prisoner chained to the exact same spot, in pretty much the same position, and Fin taking Mei's previous seat on the chair in the corner. Ao was leaning against the wall beside the bed, arms crossed tightly over his chest and a feral look scarring his face.

She edged forward until she was standing about two foot away from the prisoner, who was staring at her with that same strange look he had given her the day before. Hotaka, after securing the prison door, was hovering behind her ready and able to assist her should she need it. The other two made it clear that they had no further interest in the subject, but were now merely curious as to what she would do next.

She sighed quietly and knelt down, dragging herself forward slowly so she wouldn't have to stretch too much.

Ao huffed impatiently, and snapped, 'Take your damn time…' making her jump and mumbled a quick apology.

Her hands oved on their own, fingers outstretched as she reached for his forehead, but Fin's voice stopped her.

'What are you doing?'

She angled her body slightly so she could face him as she replied. 'Erm, m-my Kekkei Genkai, I was going to–'

'Yeah yeah, you can read minds or whatever, but that's not why you're here.'

This was news to her, and her face contorted in confusion. 'What? But I can't do anything else…' _Really, the only thing I'm any good at is this!_

Hotaka intercepted before Fin could snap back. 'What he means is, you need to get him to talk. It's all very well and good entering his mind and whatnot, but only you can see that.'

'But I can show you myself afterwards! I wouldn't even know where to start…' Her voice took on a small pleading tone. What were they saying? She couldn't torture someone if her life depended on it.

'You could be showing us anything! You may have been here for almost two years, but you'll never really be one of _us_.' Ao's cruel words hit her like a slap in the face, and she felt an irritatingly familiar prickle in the back of her eyes as she stared up at the three Jounin.

Hotaka began to scold him, while Fin simply rolled his eyes, obviously getting bored.

Akira swallowed hard, fighting her weakness. 'W-what do you want t-to know about?' She stuttered, voice on the verge of breaking.

'Well you could start with his name.' Ao suggested with another annoyed huff, trying and failing to tone down his anger.

'You don't know his name?' She asked, puzzled.

'Do _you_?'

She thought back to the memories he had shown her, recalling several names being thrown around. 'It could be Itachi, Kisame or Deidara… No, not Kisame.' She muttered, thinking aloud.

'It's Deidara, yeah.'

Four sets of eyes shot to the blonde, who had almost been forgotten about. Akira turned her body back to face his, watching him carefully. 'Sorry…' She mumbled.

He scoffed, not entirely sure what she was apologising for, but knowing that she probably shouldn't be saying that to him with three pissed off Mist ninja around.

'S-so you're in Akatsuki, huh?' She struggled to decide what to ask him, she'd never done this before and it was true when she said she didn't know where to start.

'You really are no good at this, yeah.' Deidara mocked, clearly amused by her fumbling.

'Hey, give me a chance!' She retorted uncharacteristically, gaining a few surprised looks from behind and making her suddenly very aware of the three other presences in the cell, all of whom had remained suspiciously quiet 'Okay erm, where are you from?'

The blonde raised an eyebrow. 'You didn't think to check my headband?' He smirked and added for emphasis, 'that I'm wearing.'

'Oh. Right. Iwa. Okay.' She frowned and sucked in a breath, about to ask another ridiculously useless question when Fin cut her off.

'Bloody hell, don't let him speak back to you like that. What are you, stupid?'

Something inside her snapped, and she leapt up and whirled on him, eyes burning in frustration. 'Do you want my help or not? I don't have to do this, in fact, I don't even _want_ to do this. The only reason I agreed was because the Mizukage let me stay in this village when I had nowhere else to go and she's been very good to me. So just… Shut up p-please!'

The room was deathly silent, with only the sound of Akira's angry breathing to be heard for a few long seconds.

'Hah! She sure told you, Fin.' Ao surprised them all by chuckling, his pale eye creasing as he mocked the other male.

'Whatever, I'm out.' Fin stormed to the prison door, a flurry of curse words following him as he left.

Ao sighed, unfolding his arms. 'Guess that's us for the day. Hotaka, you can finish up here, right?'

'Aye sir.'

When it was just the three of them, the Mist Jounin stepped around Akira to address the blonde, who had found the whole situation highly amusing. 'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.' He muttered as he reached down to unclick the metal cuffs.

Akira backed up to the door anxiously as Deidara was unchained from the wall. She half wondered if he had forgotten she was still there, but when he turned around he nodded his head to the door.

'Let's go.'

She lingered for a moment, watching the blonde as he absently rubbed the circulation back into his wrists, carefully avoiding the sore areas. Then she hurried out after Hotaka, dipping her head and hiding beneath her fringe the whole way back.

********** Elsewhere **********

'This is where we split off. We'll meet back here in five days. That should give you plenty of time to cross the water and do a thorough search. Got it?'

'Yeah, yeah. Geez, who died and made you fucking leader?' Hidan scowled at the Uchiha, flipping him off as he sauntered off cockily towards the docks. Kakuzu and Kisame gave each other a parting nod, before turning to follow their partners.

The boat journey was long and Hidan was infuriatingly childish. Honestly, it was a miracle the older Akatsuki member didn't throw him overboard, although it would have done the other passengers a favour and he was extremely tempted for most of the ride.

When they arrived, the air was moist and refreshing but neither of them cared. Kakuzu's plans for another bounty hunt had been utterly scuppered by this stupid mission to save that artist brat, and Hidan was extremely pissed that he had been forbidden from engaging the enemy unless left with no other choice, and he knew his partner would blab if he tried anyway.

Trudging through the damp, muddy grass, they scoured the forest they had entered for a suitable area to camp for the night. It was already dark, but the pair had quickly adjusted to the dim lighting and finally settled into a rocky clearing, Hidan grumbling the whole time that his feet were wet, to which Kakuzu had replied by mocking him for being such a baby.

The Jashinist picked up two small rocks and began to scrape them together in quick, harsh movements, but his partner scowled and knocked them from his grip. 'No fires, idiot. We're _not_ to engage the enemy, and that means we're _not_ to be detected.'

'Urgh, damn it, Kakuzu. How am I supposed to dry off without a fire?'

'Calls himself an S-rank criminal, then moans about wet feet. Pathetic.' Kakuzu muttered, neatly dodging a rock that his partner had flung at his head. 'Anyway shut up now, we have a long day of searching ahead of us tomorrow. I want to cover at least the majority of the Western quarter of the Island. We'll do a quarter a day. Now get some sleep, you imbecile.'

'Tsk, whatever.' Rolling his magenta eyes, he slumped cross-legged on the floor, flicking one final insult at his teammate before finally settling down. 'Grumpy old bastard…'

* * *

**A/N: **I dunno if I've told you guys this, but I love Hidan. He's just awesome and he should always be written about where Akatsuki fanfics are concerned. Period.

I bid you adieu.


	5. Whose Side are you On?

**A/N:** Things start to pick up now, there's some fluff in this and the next chapter, which I hope you'll thoroughly enjoy.

Still a disclaimer, I don't have the patience to draw over 600 manga chapters and maintain the quality that Kishimoto does.

* * *

**Whose side are you on?**

The next few days followed much the same formula, she would mope and worry in her cramped little apartment during the daytime, then in the evenings she would report to the Kage tower obediently and traipse down to the dungeons with the interrogation team.

With each visit, Fin became more and more hostile, and Hotaka would often have to jump to defend her from his violent rages. Ao remained impartial, claiming that he didn't particularly care for either of his comrades and therefore wanted nothing to do with their petty arguments.

As far as information gathered, all they seemed to get was general information that they already knew. They tried several tactics, first by having Akira ask a list of questions that they had pre-planned, but the Akatsuki member was very selective about his answers. They also tried to bribe him, offering him a decent meal and drink of his choice. But the blonde had long since figured out their game, and unfortunately for them, he was playing it well.

So that led to where they were now. Another guaranteed-to-fail idea, this time offered up by the Mizukage herself, who took as much time as she could to keep updated and involved in their task.

Much to Akira's dismay, Hotaka had been called away from the village on an urgent mission in the Western border of the Island, so it would just be her, Ao and Fin. Needless to say she was dreading the entire experience.

The plan this time was to have Akira reel off her questions once again, but with an added element of positive reinforcement. It was laughable really. For every question he answered with a reply that the Mist jounin deemed acceptable, he would be granted an extra privilege such as an extra five minutes of 'exercise', which Akira later found out was 20 minutes every day in a round room at the back of the cells. The conditions were controlled, with a minimum of three guards at a time and his the level of chakra allowed through his bracelet was secured and lowered.

It was ridiculous and Akira knew he'd never go for it, but here there were anyway.

Ao explained the circumstances to the scowling blonde, who rolled his eyes in response and muttered something unintelligible about their derogatory methods.

'Okay, off you go.' The middle-aged man motioned for Akira to start, who almost grimaced at how pointless it was as she took on a robotic tone.

'Alright. Where is the Akatsuki base?'

'Which one?' He raised an eyebrow, but there was a hint of amusement behind his eyes that made her uncomfortable.

'Erm, the main one, I guess?'

'It's quite far from here.'

'And the others?'

'Slightly closer.'

She sighed and glanced at Ao, who was shaking his head in frustration. She didn't even bother to acknowledge Fin.

'Okay, let's try another question. Who is your leader?'

'It's definitely not some prissy old hag they call a Kage…'

'Shut your foul mouth, you worthless scumbag!' Fin snarled, a feral glint in his eyes as he took a threatening step towards Deidara.

'M-maybe we should take a break…' Akira stammered nervously at the rising tension.

'Just do your job.' The jounin snapped, making her flinch at his temper.

'R-right.' She turned back to the blonde who was glaring daggers at the angry jounin. 'How many members are there currently in Akatsuki?'

He hesitated, mulling over the consequences if he spilled anything vital. He supposed a simple number wouldn't hurt, besides, he really hated the way that Mist nin threw his weight around with Akira. 'Ten.'

Her eyebrows raised into her hair, surprised by his honesty. 'Oh, okay so you probably move around a lot then since there's quite a lot of you, right?'

'Right.' He looked like he wanted to say more, but the sound of the lock clinking caught their attention. A flustered looking woman scurried into the cell, armed with what looked like several summoning scrolls and two large katana cases.

'Hate to interrupt, but Ao, sir, you're needed in weaponry 302 immediately, one of the Genin from training squad 4 has trapped himself in a chakra lock and we need your Byakugan to free him!' She glanced around the cell, then added, 'I'm sure Master Fin can continue in here without you.'

Ao huffed and rubbed his temples, ignoring the alarmed expression on Akira's face at the thought of being left alone with _him_. 'Fine. Don't take much longer here, Fin. I'll see you in the Mizukage's office tomorrow morning. She wants to run through some new ideas she has for the trainees.'

Fin waved his hand in dismissal, and the pair left quickly.

Akira stared longingly after them, jumping when Fin cleared his throat and told her to carry on. She was about to continue, when Deidara scoffed loudly.

'Geez the organisation of the Mist is pathetic.'

A vein throbbed in Fin's neck, but he reigned himself in and closed his eyes. The reaction apparently only encouraged the Akatsuki member further, as he then went on to comment on the poor leadership, which was an extremely touchy subject for the Mist Jounin. His face became increasingly redder until Deidara finally pushed him over the edge with a snide remark about Mei's lack of ability to control her village.

He moved so fast that Akira barely had a chance to register him before his hands were clamped tightly around Deidara's neck.

'Say that _one_ more time, I fucking _dare_ you.' He fumed through gritted teeth. The blonde only smirked at him, earning himself a solid punch to the gut. Deidara coughed and spluttered, but somehow managed to cling to that insanely arrogant smirk plastered over his face. Fin growled and slammed his palms into his shoulders, pinning him to the wall so hard that it was a miracle it didn't crack.

Akira suddenly sprung to life, startled and horrified by the scene unfolding before her. Without thinking, she leapt between them to face Fin, forcing him backwards with a gentle shove.

'Stop it! Stop, _both_ of you!' Her voice came out in a strange, high-pitched wail that she would have been embarrassed by if not for her current predicament.

'_Move_.' The Jounin seethed, making her blanch. She felt Deidara tense behind her as his breath hitched in his throat.

She shook her head slowly, quivering as she raised her hands to calm him down. 'We should go now, Ao said not to be–'

'I SAID MOVE!' He grabbed her wrist furiously, practically tearing her hand off as he flung her easily out of the way. She landed clumsily on the floor and almost instantaneously began to scrabble back to her feet. This time she had to forcefully squeeze her way in between them so she was leaning almost her full weight on the chained shinobi behind her.

'_Please_, calm down! We _need_ to _leave_!' She begged, her desperate blue eyes locking with Fins dull grey ones. They had long since glazed over, his fury completely consuming him uncontrollably.

'You have three seconds to get out of my way. One…'

'Just move, Akira.' Deidara's firm voice startled her, but she held her position stubbornly.

'No… Please, let's just go!'

'Two…'

'Akira, just do what he said!'

'It's not right, Fin! He's defenceless, he can't fight back!'

'Defenceless?! Do you think that occurs to him, or any other Akatsuki scum for that matter when they slaughter innocent people? Civilians?' The Jounin raged, momentarily forgetting his countdown. 'They're God-damn murderers you stupid girl!'

'So are you and I! How are we any difference! That's what ninja do isn't it, they're defined by death. We fight under the influence and order of a side, a cause, a leader! Strip everything down to its core and we're all the same, just pitiful, worthless human beings grasping pathetically at this thing we call life and constantly fighting to survive in this Godforsaken world, when all anyone really wants is just a tiny bit of peace and quiet!'

Fin slapped her hard across the cheek, the sound ricocheting violently around the walls. She whimpered feebly at the sting, hot angry tears streaming down her face and dribbling off her chin.

The Mist jounin looked her up and down in disgust. 'Tsk, the only thing that's pathetic in this world is people like _you_.' With that, he turned on his heel, and stalked out the cell, slamming the door and locking it in one swift movement behind him.

Akira stood rooted to the spot and staring at the door for what seemed like hours, not even daring to breathe. _He was just trying to scare her, right? He's coming back…_

Seconds ticked by without a single sign of life from beyond the cell walls. She shivered involuntarily at the chill that was creeping up her spine, and was suddenly very aware that she was still pressing her back against the prisoner.

'What a jerk, yeah…'

She gasped and stumbled forward, spinning around awkwardly to meet a pair of piercingly blue eyes staring back at her, a mix of anger, concern and confusion jumbled on his face.

'Are you alright?' He mumbled quietly when she made no further movement. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words seemed to form. 'I'm sure they'll realise you're here sooner or later.'

Slowly, she shook her head, finally finding her voice. 'I usually just go straight home, so they won't…' Another shiver ratted through her, and she wrapped her arms limply around her chest weakly. Deidara shifted his weight to lean on one leg, his chains clinking with the notion. He winced lightly as they rubbed against his raw skin around his wrists. Her eyes swept over his lower arms, concluding that they were simple pressure cuffs and she could easily unclip them if she tried. She just had to decide if she wanted to first.

He seemed to guess what she was thinking from the way her brow creased in thought, and tried to reassure her. 'I have this too don't forget, yeah, so I'm not going anywhere.' He jangled his arm with the glowing blue chakra bracelet just below his elbow for her to see.

Her compassion won the battle in the end, and she inched forward to take hold of the arm still suspended before him. She examined it for a second, before placing her thumb reluctantly over the pressure pad, and squeezed with a tiny burst of chakra. The chain clanged to the floor, and she risked a cautious glance at his blank expression before unclicking the other one.

He rubbed them carefully as Akira backed away to slump to the floor against the far wall next to the door, her eyes never leaving his face. She doubted he was going to try anything because of his chakra band, but she knew better than to let her guard down against an S-rank criminal, no matter what their background was. Drawing her knees into her chest and folding her arms around them, she sank deep into thought, scanning her brain in a futile attempt to remember anything, _anything_ at all about this man in her past.

'So it's really true then, yeah?'

His voice came from the chair in the corner, startling her slightly. He had turned the chair around to straddle it back-to-front with his arms crossed over the top, and was watching her with that irritatingly familiar way.

'H-huh?'

He gave a short laugh at her blank expression, but his eyes remained distant. 'You really don't remember a thing, do you?'

She reached up to absently twirl her hair between her thumb and finger. 'Not really.'

'Well you either do or don't…'

'Erm, well I guess I don't then.' She frowned, debating whether or not to mention her strange dreaming habits. On the one hand, he could help her fill in the blanks, but on the other… Well, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted the blanks filled, for fear of what they held.

His eyebrow raised at her hesitation and waited for her to continue. Finally, she sighed in defeat.

'I have this… Dream.' Her eyes flickered uncertainly to his, but they gave nothing away. 'I don't really understand it, but I think it's from my past. It starts out with–'

'Show me, yeah.'

'W-what?' She stared at him, and he shrugged casually.

'Show me.'

She didn't really think about it for as long as she should. Everything inside of her sang to trust this stranger, and for some reason, she found herself listening. In reality, her situation couldn't get much worse anyway. She was locked in a prison cell with a dangerous member of Akatsuki and from what Fin was undoubtedly going to tell people, Mist would probably never trust her again.

_So what the hell, let's just go for it._

**A/N: **Really hope you guys hate Fin as much as I do. What a dick…

Anyway, I should really get back to uni work, got like, four projects on-the-go. Juggling that, deviantart and Fanfiction. I'm so dedicated…

Laterz.


	6. Past Midnight

**A/N: **Slightly different perspective in this chapter, still in third person but more from Deidara's point of view this time.

Should probably throw in another Disclaimer round about now. You know the drill, don't own Naruto, just the OCs. Blah-de-blah.

* * *

**Past Midnight**

Her fingertips had felt cold against his forehead, sending a tiny shiver scuttling through him at her touch. It made his fingers itch at the urge to take her hands and warm them between his own.

The images from her dream had made perfect sense to him, of course they had, but now as she sat staring at him expectantly he found himself at a loss for words, which was incredibly rare for Deidara.

Akira was prone to balance issues and fainting and he knew from experience that she was fragile. She was also extremely trusting and unbelievably naïve, though he knew all too well how easily she could shatter. His main concern now was how she would react should she learn the truth about her past.

He hardly expected her to have a sudden rush of past feelings, fling her arms around him and run away with him into the sunset. No. It could go one of two ways, both of which involved her freaking out. The first option was that she would panic, become a quivering wreck and do everything physically possible to forget what he had just told her, literally. Or she could handle it more rationally and together they could try to figure out where to go from there. He prayed for the latter.

'Does it mean anything to you?'

Her voice brought him back to reality. She was still watching him, with her big, curious sapphire eyes that glinted softly in the candlelight, absently twiddling with her hair, which made him want to roll his eyes. _Well, here goes._

'It makes sense, yeah. Guess your fancy technique isn't all that bulletproof.' He smirked, trying to keep the mood light.

'It works perfectly well on other people, thank you very much.' She sniffed, playing along despite everything. 'I've just never used it on myself before…'

He scoffed. 'Yeah, yeah.' He paused, taking a moment to debate his decision to tell her everything… Or _show_ her. 'Akira,' he began, his expression sobering and his voice taking a more serious tone. 'Do you want me to show you what happened?'

'…Okay.'

He had been sitting on the bed with Akira cross-legged on the floor in front of him, and he watched her nervously as she shifted into a taller kneeling position. He leaned forward slightly so she could reach his forehead, but as her cool fingers found their destination once more, he wrapped his hands around her wrists softly.

'Wait,' he mumbled. 'I just want you to know…' He closed his eyes briefly, almost regretting speaking out, and then inwardly cursing for hesitating. 'I'm sorry.'

He didn't think she was going to reply at first, what was she supposed to say to that? He must have sounded crazy. But then she smiled. It was a small, sad smile, but a smile none the less. It surprised him, to say the least, his mouth falling open slightly as his heart throbbed.

Her expression lingered only for a second before it was gone, and the familiar, warm tingling began to form just above his temples.

As soon as he was sure she was securely in and ready, he closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. This was going to take a while.

********** 4 hours later **********

Time seemed to pass in a painfully slow motion. Deidara scowled into the darkness as he pulled one knee up to his chest, rubbing his chin methodically over its surface. He wasn't angry, he was worried and confused. Confused because when he'd finished filling her in on her missing memories, she had not reacted in either way he had expected. Instead, she had simply backed away slowly staring straight through him blankly and, as her back had hit the opposite wall, slid down silently into a heap on the floor. There had been no panic, no tears, and barely any emotion at all.

He risked a sly glance at his temporary cellmate, who hadn't moved an inch up till now. Her expression was still unreadable, which annoyed him to no end, but now she was holding something. Something small and shiny. He squinted through the dim lighting, his eyebrows raising as he realised it was her old Waterfall headband plate. Her ninja pouch that normally rested against her hip was now lying sideways on the stone floor beside her, and he wondered vaguely how she had pulled it out without him noticing. Damn chakra band dulling his senses.

His eyes shifted from her pouch and back up to her face. Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks were pale, with a barely noticeable but definite thin, glimmering trail down from one eye to her chin.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed, meeting his cloudy expression with an intense stare. She shivered as she stared, the cold, dingy dampness of the cell obviously starting to get to her.

With the suspense killing him, Deidara finally convinced himself to move, shuffling forward and off the dungeon bed, pausing to check on Akira. She was still watching him, but she didn't seem nervous about his movements, so he continued slowly. He arrived next to her, shifting onto his knees in an awkwardly slow manner, and leaned back against the wall, their shoulders almost touching.

Another few long moments passed, and he fell into a deep debate with himself as to what he should do or say next. He was just about to open his mouth when a small lump landing on his arm stopped him in his tracks. Hardly daring to breathe, he glanced down to see the top of her head resting gently against his shoulder, and her hand, still clutching the metal plaque, was now pressed to her chest.

He let out a long breath and closed his eyes. He didn't need to say anything, she would be alright now.

********** Elsewhere **********

'…What are you doing, you moron?' Kakuzu scowled at the idiotic, sorry excuse for a criminal they called his partner.

Hidan glared, mumbling through his stuffed mouth. 'Am Eatinf, whaft's your probum, Kakuzu?'

'You've got more damn food on the floor than in your mouth, what a total waste of money…' The older man grumbled, ignoring the spluttering of crumbs as Hidan tried to snap back. He lifted his green gaze to the town around them, scanning the area. This village was small, small enough for them to wander in and out without the risk of being recognised.

He sighed impatiently and stood up from the stool he had been perched on. Choosing a direction, he marched forward arrogantly, rolling his eyes at the cries of protest from behind.

When Hidan did catch him up, he was already outside the village, loitering at the bottom of a long line of stone stairs that led the way up to the Mist village.

'Hey, Kakuzu, you really are a bastard, you know.' Hidan, for the life of him, still couldn't understand why they were all so bothered about getting the idiotic blonde member back anyway, they'd replaced members before, so they could do it again.

'Shut up, imbecile, _listen_.'

Hidan glared momentarily before a few muffled voices managed to float their way into his ears.

'Yeah, apparently the Mizukage has a secret weapon she's been using to get him to talk!'

'No, that's not true. All he's told them is things they already know! The village is still no better off than before.'

'Am I the only one who's curious about the 'secret weapon'?'

The Akatsuki pair exchanged glances, straining their hearing and double checking that their chakra was completely masked.

'I heard from my Anbu friend they're using that girl that Haru usually hangs out with.'

'The green-haired one? Doesn't she have some weird mind-reading Kekkei Genkai?'

Hidan sucked in a breath, hands balling into fists at his sides. So she _was_ here. Kakuzu gave him a warning look and murmured to him to keep it zipped, but his advice fell on deaf ears as his partners shoulders began to shake with anticipation. The older man was seriously debating tying Hidan down, just in case, but before he could decide, a new voice entered the fray.

'Hey, what are you guys doing hanging around here at this time?'

'Captain Hotaka! We could ask you the same thing!'

'I've been scouting the North side of the Island, the elders heard from one of the villages there that two strangers had been seen lurking in the trees, but I didn't find anything.'

'Do you think it could be Akatsuki?'

'They could be after the prisoner…'

This time it was Kakuzu's turn to react. He cursed inwardly, annoyed that they'd been so careless.

'I don't know. Come on, we should hurry back.'

As soon as they were out of earshot, Hidan ground out through gritted teeth, 'So, _partner_, what's our next move?'

'We need to report back. Our mission is complete.'

********** The Mizukage's office **********

'And you're sure there was nothing even slightly suspicious?' Mei raised an auburn eyebrow quizzically.

'No Milady, not a thing.'

'How peculiar…' She mused, tapping her fingers on the edge of her desk thoughtfully.

Hotaka shifted slightly, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

'You're wondering how the interrogation went earlier, right?'

The jounin gave a sheepish smile. 'Aha, you got me.'

'Fin reported back early, said Ao got called away to one of the training teams shortly after they began. He and Akira then continued alone. Nothing out of the ordinary I don't think…Oh, he did seem in a particularly worse mood than usual though. Maybe I should check on Akira…' Her voice trailed off as she stood from her desk and wandered to stare out of the large office window, which stretched across the length of the wall.

'I'll go, if you like. You have your hands full here, clearly…' He gestured to the desk full of unsigned paperwork and offered the Kage a sympathetic smile.

Mei rolled her eyes and chuckled. 'Well, there goes my excuse to get out for a bit!'

Hotaka laughed back. 'Sorry Ma'am. See you tomorrow morning.'

'Bright and early!' She winked and watched him go, before sinking back into her chair and resigning herself to the incredible workload the elders had left for her.

Just as Hotaka was leaving, he noticed a familiar brown mop of hair lolloping in his direction. Frowning, he glanced at his pocket watch. It was almost 2am, what was Haru doing here so late?

Greeting the younger male with a quick wave, he hovered by the tower doorway and waited for him to approach.

'Captain Hotaka?' Haru gave a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, and the jounin instantly realised something was wrong.

'Is everything okay, Haru?' His brows furrowed in concern.

'I'm not sure, sir… I called round for Akira a few hours ago to drop off these,' he lifted a bag of groceries in front of him, 'but she wasn't home. I've just been round again because I was worried she hasn't been eating much recently… Did she show up for the interrogation earlier?'

'I was away on another mission, but I've just spoken with the Mizukage who said that when Fin reported there was nothing…' His eyes widened as his voice trailed off. 'Oh no…'

'What? Oh no what?!' Haru pressed, voice rising with concern.

'Fin and Akira aren't exactly best of friends…' His eyes were distracted, staring off into nothing as a few different thoughts crossed his mind. 'Come on, we should go speak to him.'

'At this hour?'

'Do you want to find Akira or not?'

The younger male nodded eagerly dropping the food bag and jogging after Hotaka who was already sauntering towards Fin's home.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm just beginning to realise how often Akira plays with her hair… It's a bad habit okay? I'm making a point.

Go wild and review. Live the dream. YOLO.

Oh God, I hate that phrase…


	7. Rescue

**A/N: **I think I'm getting the hang of this whole 'riddling but relevant chapter titles' thing I set myself. What do you think? Do they suck?

They amuse me anyway, but then, I'm in on the joke.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Rescue**

At the pace they were walking, they arrived in no time, Hotaka practically knocking the door down with his pounding.

The door was yanked open, revealing a very tired, very pissed off looking Fin. 'The hell, Hota–'

'Where is she, Fin?' The man in question growled, keeping his voice low and dangerous. Haru shrunk back slightly, glad that he wasn't on the receiving end.

'Where's who?' Fin's expression moulding into a cocky sneer.

'Don't play games with me, what did you do?'

'What did _I _do? I think the question you should be asking is, 'what did _she_ do?'!' His smirk remained plastered cruelly on his face, but his voice took on an irritated tone. 'Little bitch tried to defend that _criminal_ when I–'

'When you what? Hmm?'

'Tsk… Murdering bastard deserved it.'

Something inside the Captain snapped, and he leapt forward, forcing Fin backwards into his house and slamming him against a wall. Haru started at the swift movement, but made no attempt to get in between them since he didn't have a death wish.

Hotaka's forearm was shoved up against the other man's neck, but Fin didn't seem to care. He was enjoying his game far too much.

'So this is how it's going to be, huh, Hotaka? Taking sides with an outsider over one of your comrades? You disgust me…'

'I'll ask you one more time, Fin. And this time, you're going to answer me.'

Fin laughed once, a loud, harsh sound that made Haru decide that he detested this man. He was utterly confused about what was going on, but he was happy enough that Hotaka was on his side.

'I thought she'd be more comfortable residing with one of her own, I was merely doing the girl a favour…'

He had barely had chance to finish his sentence when Hotaka had spun on his heel and marched out of the house, dragging the youngest Mist nin after him in what would have been a comedic style, had it not been for the situation.

'W-woah, Hotaka-sir, what's going on? Where's Akira?'

'She's still in there. She's in the prison cell.' He muttered, still seething.

Haru's chocolate eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and concern. They half ran, half flew through the tower entrance, Hotaka flipping up a small pass at the few ninja who tried to query them. He barked a few sharp orders at the jounin guarding the door to the dungeon stairway, who scuttled off to inform their leader immediately.

Haru was practically dancing on the spot as he watched his companion fiddle with the lock to the cell. When it finally clicked, he swung it open and stepped forward hastily, gesturing for Haru to wait for him to go first.

He entered cautiously, but as soon as his eyes landed on the sleeping girl in the corner of the bed he visibly relaxed. She appeared unharmed.

A brown blur darted past him, freezing on the spot when he remembered the prisoner was still here.

The blonde was leaning casually against the wall beside the bed. His arms were folded across his chest and he had one leg bent so his foot was pressed against the stone wall. His expression was a cross between amusement and irritation that he had initially been completely ignored.

'So, you finally remembered her, yeah?'

'What did you do to her?' Haru spat at him, his glare flickered from Deidara to Akira, deciding whether or not it was safe to move closer.

'Relax, geez. She fell asleep so I moved her onto the bed, yeah.' He rolled his eyes and held up his hands in mock surrender. 'That's all, so don't shoot.'

Haru edged closer, until Hotaka nodded at him. Feeling reassured from the older man's approval, he closed the distance and scooped her up into his arms, careful not to disturb or awaken her. The Captain watched closely as something flashed through the prisoner's blue eyes when Akira was retrieved, but he couldn't quite place the emotion.

Within seconds, Haru was beside Hotaka again, and with one final cautious glance over his shoulder at the Akatsuki member, he disappeared with the sleeping girl behind the cell door.

The Captain hovered for a moment too long, wondering whether or not to say anything to the blonde man, who was staring at the door where the pair had exited. He settled with a small nod, before turning to leave.

********** The Next Morning **********

Blinking softly in the harsh daylight that was seeping through the exposed window, Akira hoisted herself up sleepily onto her elbows. It took her a moment to fully take in her surroundings, but when she did, her eyes shot wide open. _Was it all a dream? _

The sound of the kettle clicking dragged her attention to her slightly ajar door. Crawling to the edge of her bed silently, she edged off it gradually in case its creaking disturbed whoever was in her apartment and tip-toed across the room. Her fingers brushed against the handle, but to her horror, it was suddenly swept open and away from her grasp.

She stumbled backwards in surprise, but her expression instantly calmed to relief and then to joy when her eyes landed on the figure before her.

'Haru!' She flung her arms around him, snuggling her face into his neck, desperate for the comfort of something real, something she was sure of. Haru was real, he was here with her now, of that she was sure.

'Akira! You're awake…'

She pulled back and gave him a small smile, which he returned happily. 'What are you doing here…?'

He gave her a funny look, but explained anyway. 'I came looking for you last night but you were nowhere to be seen, I got worried and decided to go check with the Mizukage, and then we, me and Hotaka, found you… in there…' His voice trailed off painfully, scowling at the floor in disgust.

_So it wasn't a dream…_

'Are you alright? I mean, he didn't hurt you or anything?'

'No, I'm totally fine, I just fell asleep after a while…' It wasn't a complete lie.

He didn't seem convinced, but turned to lead the way into the living room all the same, where two steaming cups of tea were sitting neatly on the table.

Akira opened her mouth to thank him, but suddenly found herself struggling for balance as the room seemed to rattle and quake around her.

'W-what the…' Haru mumbled as he gripped the couch to steady himself. As quickly as it had come the rattling ceased, leaving them both staring at each other in confusion.

'What just happened?'

'I have no idea…' Haru moved to the edge of the room to peer out the small window frame. She watched him cautiously, examining his expression and her pulse quickening as she heard him gasp.

'Oh no… Come on, this is not good!'

'What? What's not good, what is it?' She babbled in a flurry, racing after the now-retreating male as he flew through her front door and out into the streets. 'Haru! Wait up! What's wrong?'

He paused just long enough for her to catch him up, looking her dead in the eyes as he muttered one, panicked word. 'Akatsuki.'

They had come in through the main gates, cocky and confident as ever, in a group of four. The pair of friends had run straight to the front line, one in fury and one out of curiosity.

Akira stared at the figures as they strode forward, easily batting away any futile attacks the Mist defense lines were sending at them, as though it were some sort of childish game. She knew these men, they had been her allies once and she, theirs. Her eyes trailed across their features, one by one. Itachi. Kisame. Hidan. Kakuzu. None of them had seen her yet, and she wasn't entirely sure either she or the Mist were ready for their grand reunion just yet.

'Akira!' Haru barked, breaking her out of her trance. 'Get back, we'll handle these jerks!'

She nodded quickly, turning on her heel and racing towards the Kage tower without a second glance. Akira wasn't stupid, she knew Mei was probably already fully aware of their arrival, but something inside was pulling her closer and closer to the tallest building at the centre of the village.

There was another startling crashing sound as a row of apartment blocks crumbled and collapsed to the ground at her feet. She dancing around the flying debris, narrowly avoiding several bricks to the head as she ran, channeling chakra to her feet in a hurry.

Her feet carried her straight past the Mizukage office, realization dawning on her as she sailed down the endless flight of stairs and was through the torture chamber in a flash. Panting hard and gasping for air, she bent over to lean her hands on her knees while she recovered. Hotaka and five other masked shinobi greeted her outside the prisoner's cell.

'Akira? Did Lady Mizukage send you?' He seemed surprised to see her, but kept his face blank as he spoke.

'N-no… I was just… coming to warn you…' She sucked in a breath and finished her sentence quickly. 'There are four members at the gates and moving forward easily!'

That wasn't why she was here, but what else could she tell them to explain her strange burst of interest in their prisoner. The real reason lay nestled snugly in the back of her mind, unbeknown even to her.

'Oh, we already know, Milady informed us. Here,' he extended his hand to her, his fingers curled around an icy looking water bottle. She glugged it eagerly, letting out a long sigh of relief as she handed it back to him gratefully.

'What are you going to do?' She asked nervously, gesturing to the locked prison door.

'We have our orders… Hopefully it won't come to that, but ultimately we cannot allow the prisoner to go free at any cost.'

She gulped at the insinuation that, should the situation turn sour, they had orders to kill. That was her fear, the reason she had so desperately scrabbled through rubble and catastrophe to get here. Swallowing hard, she nodded at the jounin before her, leaning backwards on the wall next to him to wait.

And wait they did. For almost two hours, they stood in silence as the battles raged outside. They only spoke the occasional mumbled apologies for awkwardly standing on someone's foot or something.

Finally, there was movement in the chambers just on the other side of the door they were standing by. Hotaka and another male they had called Juun, moved to unlock the cell door and slipped inside silently, Akira hot on their heels and gaining a curious look from the former.

He was about to speak but she answered his unspoken question before he could. 'I don't want to be out there when they arrive…' She lied, fumbling with her hands. Understanding flashed through his eyes and he dropped her gaze, missing the way her own eyes fluttered with the guilt of lying to him. She genuinely liked Hotaka, he didn't judge her like the rest of the Mist, and he stood up for her countless times against the other interrogation team members.

She hovered awkwardly by the once again locked cell door, her eyes wide as she watched Juun's hand move to rustle in the side pocket of his vest. Deidara was watching her, a strange unreadable look on his face, but when the masked jounin produced a flicker of silver in the dim lighting from his pocket, he averted his eyes.

There was a sudden loud bang and the sound of metal clashing in the corridor outside, and Akira found herself backing away from the door.

When silence fell, nobody dared breathe.

After a few painful seconds, the small but significant sound of the lock being scratched echoed through the room. Juun readjusted the blade in his fist and took a deathly cautious step towards the blonde, who was staring furiously at the door.

When it clicked, the door swung open desperately slow, revealing a dark silhouette in the door frame, who took one step forward, bright red eyes glinting in the candlelight.

* * *

**A/N: **I found out today (as I'm typing this), that the Naruto manga has come to an end, which in turn means… The anime is finishing! I repeat, Naruto, is finishing.

Nooooooooo Kishimoto, how could you do this to us?!

Seriously don't know how I'll survive.

Life is hard, then you die.


	8. Friend Or Foe

**A/N: **I haven't written for this story for ages! I really need to get back into it, but I have no inspiration... Your ideas are welcome if you're enjoying the story, or maybe you prefer the old version of this sequel?

I don't know, give me a hint how you're feeling out there!

* * *

**Friend or Foe**

The door swung open desperately slow, revealing a dark silhouette in the door frame, who took one step forward, bright red eyes glinting in the candlelight.

'Itachi…' Akira mouthed silently. He stared at her, a brief flicker of confusion flashing through his eyes that went unnoticed to the Mist jounin. The silence dragged on, until a sharp breathy scoff snapped everyone out of their trance.

'Just my luck to be rescued by the damn Uchiha, yeah.'

The Mist nins sprang into action, Hotaka clashing in the centre of the cell, kunai crossed with the bloodied one of Itachi Uchiha.

Akira remained rooted to the spot, frozen by shock and fear for the lives of the shinobi before her. Her eyes did their best to follow their swift movements, and she was relieved to find Hotaka holding his own relatively well against the Akatsuki member, until his backup arrived.

She saw the weapon first, a giant three-pronged scythe swinging in through the open cell doors to plant itself sharply in the wall behind Juun's shoulder, his eyes widening at his narrow escape.

'Do it, Juun!' Hotaka barked in between slashes.

Akira snapped her head to the side in horror, remembering why she had come down here in the first place. _Loyalties or not, I can't let them kill him!_

She darted forward without thinking, snatching the kunai from the startled jounin's hand in a flash, just as Haru had shown her whilst training several weeks back. Back when things were simpler.

'What the…?'

'Deidara! Tell me how to undo them!' She cried urgently, pleading with the blonde as she tugged at his wrist and gesturing to the glowing chakra bands.

His reply came too slow, as Juun had recomposed himself and flung himself forward. Akira spun just in time to catch his arm before it collided heavily with her face, though the sheer force of his punch sent her hurtling backwards. She landed against something hard but warm, and when she tilted her head back to stare upside down into deep magenta eyes, she wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or scared.

'H-Hidan?' Her jaw fell open as she scrabbled away, but his arm snaked easily around her waist tugging her small and significantly lighter frame back to his.

'Not so fast, you!' He sneered, though the malice in his voice was much milder than he intended.

Her eyes flew back to Deidara and Juun, panic rising in her stomach as she thrashed against the Jashinist's bare chest.

She managed to wriggle herself to her knees, though one firm hand was still clutching her forearm, squeezing tightly as she squirmed. 'Hidan, let me go! You don't understand! They're going to–'

Hotaka's body suddenly crashed into her side, half knocking the wind out of her. She spluttered as she wobbled to her feet, hands outstretched for the support of the wall. What she found instead was much more reassuring.

'Chakra on the connector, you need a short burst of chakra on the connection pad, yeah!' Deidara's voice was hushed and hurried, and she nodded as his hand held her steady. She spun the device clumsily around his arm until her eyes landed on the connection, her hands shook nervously as she gathered chakra to her fingers.

'It's not working!' Her voice was high and squeaky as she shook her head in frustration.

'Harder, you need to really hit it!'

'A-alright.' She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried again, forcing as much power as she could into her hands and jabbing it as hard as possible. The blonde winced on the impact as the glowing began to seethe red. She threw him a panicked glance but he was nodded to the second band and she repeated the process.

The bands shrivelled suddenly, withering away into wisps of nothingness on his skin and he breathed out in relief. Glancing back up, she found Hidan and Itachi fending off several Mist anbu that had swiftly arrived on scene, and she recognised one of the new faces as Fin. Deidara had noticed him too apparently, as she heard a low growl forming in the back of his throat.

But she was no longer paying attention to him, he was free and therefore he was safe, for now.

Crouching down, she crawled fearfully towards a slumped figure in the corner. When she arrived over his weak form, she could practically hear his heart pounding as he coughed raggedly.

'C-captain Hotaka…' She whispered, barely loud enough to hear. His eyes snapped to hers as her breath blew over his cheek softly as she bent over him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, heaving his upper half onto her lap, tears streaming silently down her cheeks.

Her expression was broken and exhausted, but it was clear that she was expecting him to be furious. 'D-does Haru… know?' He managed between hoarse breaths.

She shook her head sadly. 'I only found out myself last night…'

His eyes trailed slowly over her shoulder to the blonde Akatsuki member, who was watching them with a dark, almost apologetic expression. Hotaka's vision refocused on Akira as several small teardrops landed softly on his cheek.

'Hotaka… I'm so sor–'

'Don't.' He wheezed, lifting a hand weakly to ruffle her on the head. 'It's not y-your… fault.'

She stared wide-eyed as his eyes slid shut lazily, as though drifting off into a peaceful slumber, and Akira let out a heart-breaking sob as she clung to the dying man in her arms. _It's not fair. He should never have been in the middle of this…_

'Akira.' The blonde hovered uncomfortably by her side, tugging on her elbow when she didn't respond. She shrugged him off, turning to glare hostilely as her blue eyes blazed with hatred and pain. Deidara knew he shouldn't take offence, Akira had been through a lot and to willingly charge down here to stop his own murder had been proof enough that she still cared, even if she was confused. But still, it hurt to see that expression directed at him.

'We have to get out of here.' He tried again softly, slowly curling his fingers around her arm again. 'There's nothing you can do, yeah.'

Tears dribbled down her pale cheeks as she gazed down at Hotaka's still form. She allowed the Akatsuki member to pull her to her feet agonisingly slowly, not bothering to put much effort in on her own.

He dragged her wordlessly onto his back before turning to face the other members, who were standing awkwardly in the doorway, a strange look mirrored on their faces.

'What?' He snapped, impatiently.

Kakuzu chose this moment to enter the cell, throwing Itachi an unusual glare. 'Let's just get outside this damn village.'

The Uchiha nodded once.

The Mist must have regrouped to discuss their plan of action, because the Akatsuki members almost made it the whole way through the village undisturbed.

They came back in waves, the taijutsu users darting at them on the front line from all angles while the mist jutsu's began to loud the visibility, followed closely by the weapon yielders.

'Nice tactic…' Mumbled Kakuzu, earning a snort from Hidan.

'Whose fucking side are you on, Kakuzu?' His partner sneered, clearly also finding the Mist's plans well thought out.

'So what's our strategy, _Captain_?' Deidara spat his last word with undisguised sarcasm.

'Hey, where's Kisame? Lazy bastard ditched the fight…'

'He's ensuring our escape, Hidan.' Itachi answered, somewhat defensively. Deidara raised an eyebrow but chose to dodge a string of whirling shuriken over commenting.

'We could really use an ex-Mist nin round about now…' Kakuzu grumbled, cutting down a young jounin mercilessly.

'Someone call for an ex-Mist?' A gravelly voice echoed into earshot and Itachi allowed a tiny barely-noticeable smirk at the cursing Jashist.

'Lead the way, Shark man. I'm sick of these fuckers, like rabbits popping up everywhere…'

Kisame chuckled and beckoned for them to follow, practically skipping away from the battle and back in the same direction they had come. They jogged after him, effortlessly deflecting several flailing weapons and well-aimed punches as they zig-zagged through the streets.

They managed to loose most of their pursuers from the sheer speed they travelled. He was leading them out the back way, which had been clear just moments before when he had found the route. Now, only one boy stood in their way. It was almost laughable.

'The fuck is this? One man show?' Hidan grunted as he halted abruptly, catching himself just quick enough to avoid diving head first into his older partners back.

'I will not let you pass.'

Akira shifted suddenly on the blonde's back, her head snapping up as though she had been electrocuted back down to Earth from her somewhat comatose state. 'H-Haru!' She gasped, her breathe blowing softly against Deidara's neck. He shivered as he recognised the Mist nin as the one who had carried Akira out of his cell so tenderly the day before.

Haru blinked slowly, eyes widening as his eyes saught the owner of the familiar voice. 'Akira!' He snarled at the Akatsuki members fiercely. 'What the hell do you want with her?! Let her go!'

Unable to keep the scowl of his face, Deidara growled back, 'get out of our way, kid.'

'Let me have this one, Kakuzu. Jashin-sama is growing impatient…'

'Shut up, Hidan! Once we rid ourselves of this God-damn village you can sacrifice as many civilians as you like.'

'…Blasphemous heathen.'

'Enough!' Haru raged, chocolate irises glued to the girl on Deidara's back. Her arms and legs hung limply as his grip tightened around her knees, causing her to stir slightly, though her gaze remained locked with her friend.

'Haru, don't do this, they'll kill you!' She pleaded, her voice high and desperate.

He frowned and widened his stance, not missing how her wet cheeks glistened in the light. It made his heart throb. 'Let her go, you bastards! I'll never let you take her!'

'Itachi, why don't you take this one?' Kisame motioned to the boy casually, leaning back on his large bandaged sword as though they had all the time in the world.

'No! Don't hurt him!' The girl thrashed lightly, a small part of her not wanting to hurt the blonde in the process. He turned his head to the side to glance at her with one blue eye, trying to gauge her feelings and coming up blank. She obvious cared about this Haru, but to what extent?

The Uchiha stepped forward, squaring his shoulders to face the opposing Mist nin. Haru stood his ground, palms sweating as he fumed and gripped his katana that was still strapped to his back tighter.

'Haru, was it?' Itachi's voice distracted him long enough to tear his gaze away from the panic-stricken girl to glance at the blood red irises of said Uchiha. Big mistake.

He slumped to the ground unceremoniously, while Akira screamed, inconsolably. The Akatsuki took this as their signal to leave, leaping easily away from the scene and not stopping as they raced in and out of the thick forest trees that surrounded the Mist.

The journey to the docks would be at least 2 days on foot in their current state, Itachi noted. Halting the troop just long enough to bark several instructions.

'Hidan, Kakuzu. You two continue from here on foot. Set a series of traps and cover any tracks to deflect any following Mist. Deidara, can you make two birds?'

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow. 'Erm, much as I'd love to, yeah, we failed to get my clay back, so…'

A small ninja pack was tossed into his chest, cutting him off. He glared at the culprit, only to find Hidan and Kisame both pointing the blame at each other. He huffed and bent down to retrieve the fallen pack, slowing down when he felt Akira's chin fall onto his shoulder. _She must have passed out with exhaustion from all that crying…_

'Hey, erm…' Kisame began, rubbing the back of his neck. 'So what do we do with Greeny over there?'

'We take her back, obviously.' Hidan snapped, an unspoken threat lingering behind his words. As an afterthought, he muttered under his breath. 'Fuckwit…'

Kisame glared but didn't reply, making Deidara suspicious. 'Did I miss something, yeah?'

The other members exchanged cautious glances awkwardly, but it was Itachi who stepped forward to fill him in. 'We had orders to… Should we come across Akira, to treat her as an enemy.'

'What? Why?' The blonde shifted uneasily.

'She doesn't remember anything about us, so technically she is no longer an ally of Akatsuki.' Kakuzu mumbled.

'Actually, about that…' Now it was Deidara's turn to look uncomfortable. 'I kinda… filled her in…'

'…Mind fucking filling _us_ in, dipshit?'

* * *

**A/N: **I've just updated my SasoXOC fic, and it's weird going back to write for this now knowing that I killed Sasori off in the beginning of Erase Me…

I also have plans for Tobi/Obito in this sequel, so don't worry, I haven't forgotten him or cut him out.


	9. Accepted

**A/N: **Been busy doing loads of pictures of my OCs on Deviantart, finally forced myself to get back to writing instead of drawing!

So without further ado…

* * *

**Accepted**

* * *

'I see.'

'…'

'…'

'Well?' The blonde snapped impatiently, clearly unimpressed at their leader's unreadable silence.

The Akatsuki team had arrived mere minutes earlier, racing straight to Pein's office and all but throwing themselves inside, squabbling and shouting about who was going to speak first.

Itachi, who had artfully taking their falling over each other as his chance to step forward, had given a brief mission report before gesturing for Deidara to input the details of his time imprisoned in the Mist village. He explained everything as thoroughly as he could, careful to add in as much detail that would fall in Akira's favour.

Said girl had remained silent for most of their journey, never protesting once, simply trailing along behind them deep in thought or simply spacing out. Currently, she was hovering almost nervously against the wall in the corridor outside the office, waiting uncomfortably for the verdict of whether or not she would be allowed to stay, let alone live.

'Leader-sama, if I may offer my opinion…?' The Uchiha stepped forward, his head tilting politely. When the orange-haired leader gave him the go-ahead, he began cautiously. 'I have no reasons to believe that, during her time away from Akatsuki, she has remembered any details or given anything away about the organisation. Also, now that she does remember, her actions have only indicated that she is nothing but willing to remain loyal to us. She did save Deidara's life.'

The blonde shot him an irritated look that read, _I could have easily escaped on my own_, but held his tongue as Itachi continued, unfazed.

'So, honestly, I see no need to silence her.'

Hidan, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout the meeting, shifted uneasily at the mention of 'silencing' Akira. His scowl must have given away his distaste for the subject, as cool, silvery eyes turned to address him.

'Hidan, what is your view on the matter?'

'I say leave her fucking be. Getting rid of her is more hassle than it's worth. It's not like she's completely useless anyway with that weird mind-reading shit. Let's just drop it and get the fuck on with our lives, _leader-sama_.' The sarcasm on the way he addressed the ginger male was, luckily for him, brushed off, though his words did seem to have Pein considering his point.

'And what about you? Kisame? Kakuzu?'

'Hey what about me, yeah?' Deidara complained, offended to have been overlooked.

'I figured your view was rather apparent.' Pein deadpanned, ignoring his grumblings and turning to face the other two members.

'I agree with them.' Kisame shrugged plainly.

'So long as no one minds cutting down their food portions then I have no issues with her staying.' Kakuzu nodded.

_Typical that he should think of the cost of an extra mouth to feed._ Pein resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the older member.

'I see. Bring her to me now, the rest of you are dismissed.'

They hesitated, but under Pein's commanding glare, trudged reluctantly out into the corridor where the oblivious girl was waiting.

When Akira saw their serious expressions, her heart flipped nervously. She didn't want to be sent away again, but she didn't want to become a traitor to the Mist. She worried her lip as her eyes clouded at the thought of Haru, clinging to the hope that Itachi had merely knocked her innocent friend unconscious as they made their quick escape.

The other members had all disappeared into the maze-like corridors that led further into the base, but Deidara paused anxiously in the hallway beside her.

Putting on a brave face and sucking in a deep breath, she offered him her most reassuring smile and gently pushed open the office door, stepping inside silently.

The room was darker than she remembered, but as she inched closer to the barely lit desk, her eyes landed on a pair of familiar pale ringed eyes and vibrant orange hair. The flickering candlelight cast unruly shadows over his features as he waited for her to sit down, and though she wasn't afraid, she couldn't help but feel intimidated.

She shuffled awkwardly into a chair, casting her eyes downwards as she fiddled with her hands.

It was quiet for a few more moments before the leader decided to speak.

'So you ended up in Mist, huh?'

She was surprised by his choice of subject, but her relief of the silence being broken was clear when she replied eagerly. 'Yes, sir. Some of their ninja found me wandering through a forest on their way back from a mission.'

'I see. So you remembered nothing?'

'No, not a thing. Rumours were spread that I had been one of Orochimaru's test subjects, though I didn't know who that was at the time. Others thought maybe I had gotten into a fight and got a concussion resulting in memory loss, but no one knew the truth…' She trailed off, the unspoken 'until now' lingering in the air.

Pein regarded her closely, his observant gaze not missing a single hunch of the shoulders or twitch of an eyebrow as she spoke. Her general posture was reserved and guarded, but her eyes were clear, making it obvious she posed them no threat.

She willingly answered several more questions about the past two years, ranging from where she had worked to how strong her ties were. The latter had been answered honestly, as she explained that though she had little to no attachment to the village itself, there were one or two people that she now cared for.

Finally, Pein arrived at his point. 'The thing is, Akira, two years have passed whether we like it or not. As I'm sure you understand, that puts Akatsuki in a very compromising situation knowing that your memories of us have now returned.'

Her eyes hardened slightly before he continued, a silent message to the leader that no matter how close to the Mist she was, she would never betray her friends here.

'However…' Pein leaned forward thoughtfully, his fingers interlocking as his rested his chin on his hands. 'For the time being, I have no evidence that you are a threat to the organisation. You may stay here, but you must do just that. Therefore you will not be permitted to leave these walls under any circumstances unless I order it so. Are we clear?'

She nodded fervently, chewing on her lip as she rose to her feet, unsure of whether or not she was allowed to leave this room, never mind the entire base.

A quick inclination of the orange-haired man's head had her bowing her thanks and scurrying to the door, but his voice halted her as her hands reached out for the handle.

'Akira?'

She glanced back cautiously, trying to read his impossibly blank expression.

'Don't make me regret my decision.'

********** The next day **********

Akira awoke early from the first full night's sleep she'd had in weeks. Stretching, she tugged the covers around her waist as she convinced herself to move from the safety of her bed. She was in one of the spare rooms towards the back of the base, and although Akira was unfamiliar with this section of the hideout, she felt strangely at home.

She waddled into the bathroom dragging her covers along with her, reluctant to release the warmth. Moving idly to stare at her reflection, she tugged on her knotted hair with a slight frown, pouting when she found no brush in the room.

The girl sighed and stepped into the shower, gasping when the water ran cold._ That'll be Kakuzu, trying to save money on the water bill…_ Rolling her eyes, she carefully combed her fingers through the messy tangles, humming an unknown melody as she scrubbed away the evidence of her long journey here.

She wasn't surprised to find that there were no towels on show, the Akatsuki had better things to be getting on with than keeping the towels stocked up in every spare room. She padded cautiously across the now-wet floor back into the bedroom to rummage through the chest of drawers she'd noticed.

It was at that moment that there was a swift knock on the door. She spun around furiously, opening her mouth to halt her visitor, but her voice came too late as the door swung open revealing a very red-faced blonde and an extremely amused looking Jashinist.

'G-get out!' She squeaked, clamping her eyes tight shut in embarrassment and scrabbling to cover as much of herself as possible.

'Oh man, you should see your faces!' Hidan roared, slapping Deidara on the back and abruptly snapping him out of his frozen state.

'S-shut up, yeah!' The blonde hissed, quickly shrugging out of his cloak and flinging it at Akira, who had resorted to sitting with her legs crossed awkwardly over one another while she hugged her chest tightly.

Her cheeks were painfully hot as she threw it over her front. Swallowing hard, she tried to calm her breathing as her heart hammered against her ribcage. 'W-what did you want?'

'We just wanted to see if you were up yet, it's pretty fucking late!' Hidan sneered, highly entertained by the pair's reactions.

'Why, what time is it?' Akira mumbled, glancing around the room for a clock and finding none.

'It's 11:30…' Deidara mumbled back, his scarlet cheeks still matching hers in colour.

Her eyes snapped open at this. 'What?!' She hurried to her feet, turning slightly so she could hide herself as she pushed her arms through the cloak, fastening it hastily. 'I missed breakfast…'

'Don't worry, we saved you some, yeah.' He offered her a small bag that she hadn't seen him holding until now, her eyes lighting up as she peered inside. 'It's not much but…'

'Thank you,' she grinned, embarrassment forgotten as she selected a toasted bagel from the assortment.

The pair left her alone to change after directing her to the only occupied drawer. She scowled at their choice of clothes but, having no other option, changed into them without hesitation. The outfit was bland, consisting of a simple pair of black ninja pants and a pale green top that clashed horribly with her teal hair.

Pulling her long locks into a messy bun in a vague attempt to hide the colour mismatch, she sighed and wandered out into the hall.

She just barely managed to find her way to the kitchen, where Kisame was busy stuffing his face with what looked like iced buns.

He threw her a toothy grin and greeted her in between bites. 'So… Sleeping Beauty awakes, huh?'

'Very Funny…' She grumbled, but she was secretly glad to see the blue male again in a more civil situation.

'Bun?' He offered a half-eaten bun with all the icing licked off, and although her stomach recoiled in disgust, she had to laugh.

'Erm, I think I'll pass, thanks…'

He chuckled along with her before disappearing into the adjoining living room.

Alone again, she set about making herself some tea. She was mildly relieved to find that everything was still in the same place, and on further inspection she noted that the whole room looked exactly as she remembered it, bar a few extra damages to the worktops which she put down to Hidan's horrendous cooking habits. She ran one finger over the newest looking jagged lines on the surface as the kettle whistled noisily. _Everything seems the way it used to be… but a lot can happen in two years. We can't just pick up from where we left off…_

Slumping into a wooden chair, she let her head fall into her palms as she contemplated her situation. It was strange really. She left here for a reason, which she would have thought would come flooding back and hit her like a raging steam train. And yet two years on, the feelings, though still present, were oddly subdued, as though her mind was far too distracted to even concentrate on being mournful.

She sipped her tea cautiously, licking her lips as she withdrew and deciding it was still too hot.

'Who the hell are you?'

A voice from the doorway startled her and almost sent tea spluttering everywhere. Her head shot up, sapphire eyes locking with an unfamiliar pair of topaz ones.

'Oh… hello?' She stuttered, surprised to see a new face.

'Who are you?' The stranger spoke again, calmer this time.

Akira jumped up, her chair scraping obnoxiously across the floor as she bowed her head in apology. 'Oh, sorry! My name is Akira.'

The girl in the doorway looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

'T-they haven't told you about me?' Fighting the nerves the stranger was giving her, Akira gestured to the kettle when she didn't reply. 'Do you want some tea?'

Her amber eyes twitched as she stared almost unbelievingly at Akira. 'No, I do not want some _tea_.' She spat the last word cruelly, before spinning on her heel and exiting the room promptly.

_Weird…_

* * *

**A/N: **So yeah, if you've read/are reading my previous 'alternative' version of Remember Me, you will notice I am using Kiri in this and she will have the same personality too.

Anyway, chapter over, now back to drawing… Yay!


	10. Readjusting

**A/N: **So in this chapter my two versions of the sequel will start to merge quite a bit, but the general story arc is different, I just kept these scenes because it adds a bit extra to character building and the actual story content.

If you like it so far, let me know.

Still a disclaimer.

* * *

**Readjusting**

Hidan had found himself a new game. The 'tell Akira all sorts of lies and make her believe they're true because she's so gullible' game, which Akira was not enjoying.

'…and we have to ration our showers now, once a week maximum! And we can only have one drink of water a day 'cause Kakuzu stopped paying the water bill.' Well, that one wasn't entirely untrue. The money-tight member _had_ cut down their water supply, but there was still plenty of it even if it did run cold most of the time.

'That is ridiculous.' Akira rolled her eyes, but made a mental note to check the rations thing with one of the others.

'No, really it's fucking true!'

'Just because you hate showers doesn't mean no one else should have one!' She stuck her tongue out childishly, only encouraging him more.

'Oh and we have to address Konan as 'Princess' now… and we're not allowed to–'

'Oh shut up, Hidan. Don't listen to him, Akira. He's been bored out of his mind here without you to pester.' Konan smiled prettily at Akira as she entered the kitchen and flicked the kettle on, leaning back to wait patiently for her afternoon tea. 'How are you coping with it all?'

'I don't know yet.' Akira sighed. She was finding it difficult to battle her emotions since, she sort of felt like it was only yesterday that the events of their last mission together had unfolded. She supressed a shudder and replied evenly. 'I guess I'm alright. What have I missed?'

Konan laughed, 'not much. Kiri's new, she's a bit of a short fuse but you'll get used to her. Hidan already hates her but that's not unusual.'

'You think you've been through shit, wait till you meet that bitch.' Hidan scoffed before helping himself to an over-filled bowl of blood-red soup.

Konan looked like she wanted to comment further on the red head, but she changed the subject and poured out some tea. 'You can have your old room back! We had plans for extra members but two died in battle and one was just useless so we had Itachi dispose of him before–'

'Wait, slow down, Konan!' Akira halted her, unable to resist giggling lightly at her old friend.

'Of course! Sorry Akira… It's just nice to have you back around again.' Konan offered her long-lost friend a small smile, before standing up to leave. 'I have to run, Pein's been awfully stressed recently with everything that's happened…'

Akira smiled sympathetically as she watched the blue haired woman collect her steaming mug and exit the room, leaving her alone once again with Hidan.

Taking the opportunity to gather her confused thoughts, she tried to arrange her timeline in her mind and decide on her next move. Obviously she had to lay low for a while until she gained Pein's trust again enough to let her leave the base unsupervised. But she doubted that would happen any time soon.

She chewed her lip as her mind started to wander to the Mist and her obliviously betrayed friends. The guilt began to well up in the pit of her stomach as she searched her brain for a conclusion that would end well for both the Akatsuki and the hidden Mist ninja.

However, it was proving difficult since Hidan was slurping noisily across from her, occasionally stopping to glug from the bottle of milk he had snatched from the fridge.

Sighing, she stood up muttering something about being in the training room. She walked solemnly to the ring. She had kept up her taijutsu practice, Haru had helped her a lot over the previous summer, since most of the missions were mere C and D ranks, which he had avoided as much as possible.

She missed Haru already, not to mention the growing concern about his wellbeing. Making a mental note to query Itachi on that later, she wondered vaguely what was going on back home. Home in the Mist, or the Hidden Waterfall? Where did she even regard as home right now?

'Hey.'

She looked up, her cobalt eyes meeting his in mild surprise. She hadn't noticed him approach. 'Hey…'

The blonde before her sighed and nodded his head in the direction she'd been walking, his visible icy blue eye shadowed in the dim light so she couldn't read his expression. They began to walk together quietly, both apparently lost in thought.

They arrived at the training ring, and she let her eyes scan the empty room. It hadn't changed in the slightest. 'Deidara?'

'Hmm?'

'Why did you bring me back here with you?'

He frowned, as if debating whether or not this was one of those trick questions women sometimes used on men in an attempt to figure out what they're thinking. But she countered herself before he could respond.

'I mean you could have left me there… It probably would have been easier that way… for everyone.'

'Easier how?'

'Well… things are different now… We can't just go back to the way everything was before.'

He knew she was right, but he couldn't supress the niggling feeling of disappointment at her honesty. He pursed his lips as he glanced to the side, searched her face and trying to read her expression. She was watching him too, but cautiously, as though she was waiting for him to get angry at her and shout.

He finally sighed again, softly this time, words escaping his mouth before he realised or could stop them. 'Maybe I just didn't want to lose you again, yeah…'

Her mouth fell into a small 'o' shape as she stared, but he dropped her gaze quickly and sauntered to the opposite side of the ring, eager to change the subject. 'You been practicing much?'

'Is that a challenge?' Akira raised an eyebrow playfully, then on remembering something, pouted. 'I don't have my whistle.'

'Thank God for that, yeah.' He laughed, remembering their first ever spar. 'Strictly taijutsu. No clay, no freaky music thing. Deal?'

'Alright, deal!' She charged forward, pulling back her fist as she ran.

********* Elsewhere **********

'Haru! Haru, can you hear me?!' Her pale blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she shook the boy in her arms gently once again, freezing all movement when he stirred.

'…Jana? I-is that you?' Haru reached up to rub his head, a vague attempt at soothing the throbbing pain at the back of his eyes. 'Geez I feel like I was hit by an avalanche…'

Jana's soft chuckle of relief drew his attention to her face, she was badly bruised along the right side of her jawline and, although faint, he could just about make out several traces of dried blood flaking through her right eyebrow.

'Haru! You're okay… I was so worried!' She pulled him into a death hug, only releasing him when he managed to wheeze out that he couldn't breathe.

That's when it all came back. It hit him like a raging runaway train and he sprung up a little too quickly shouting, 'the Akatsuki are escaping! We have to stop them before they–'

'Shh, Haru calm down, they're long gone. There's nothing you can do.'

'What do you mean, they're long gone?!' It was only now that he took the time to take in his surroundings. He was in a hospital, with two concerned faces peering down at him, his teammate and lifelong friend, Jana, and one he didn't recognise.

'Haru, you're in hospital. You've been out cold for three days!'

'B-but… I can't have…' He shook his head in disbelief. What happened to Akira?

As though reading his mind, Jana placed her hand over one of his clenched fists. 'They didn't find the Akatsuki, Haru. Or… her. They're long gone, and they aren't coming back.'

He stared at an unfamiliar woman beside him, watching with disinterest as she checked his pulse and scribbled something down in his patient file.

'No.' He stated simply, frowning.

'What?' Jana mirrored his expression, her lilac eyes narrowing in confusion.

'I will find her, Jana. I will find Akira, and I'm going to bring her home.'

********** Back at the base **********

Deidara found himself watching her, just like old times, the way her sapphire eyes glinted when she laughed, and how she twirled her loose strands of hair around her finger when she was thinking or simply out of habit.

He suppressed an amused smirk as she currently tried to scoop up the last remnants of ramen from her almost-empty bowl with her chopsticks, oblivious to her audience. She sighed in defeat, moving to rinse it out in the sink.

Across the table sat Kiri, being suspiciously and uncharacteristically quiet. She was hunched over her coffee, with both hands cupped around the mug in an attempt to keep warm.

Sensing another presence, Deidara looked up just in time to see Kisame stroll tiredly through the kitchen doorway, pausing beside Akira to reach around her and flick the kettle on. He set about preparing himself a sandwich, but the green-haired girl stopped him.

'Here, I'll make it.' She smiled at the shark man and he grinned in response.

'Taking up your house-keeping role again eh, Greeny?'

'No,' She put her hands on her hips mockingly and turned to watch him slump into a chair at the table. 'I was just being nice, actually. I do that sometimes! Besides, you make such a mess…'

Before Kisame could respond, Kiri scoffed loudly, and the three glanced at her in slight surprise.

'Something wrong, shorty?' Kisame pressed when the red head offered no explanation.

'Nope. Nothing at all.' She stood up abruptly, scraping her chair across the floor noisily as she headed out of the room, her nose in the air.

'…Well that was weird.' The blonde muttered, looking back to Akira, who was staring at the doorway with puzzled expression.

Kisame snapped his fingers suddenly. 'Oh! Konan was looking for you by the way. Said she has some mission or something for you.'

That shocked her. 'For me? What? W-why?'

He smirked. 'Don't worry, it's nothing too drastic.'

Intrigued, Akira finished the sandwich she was making in a flurry and all but threw it at Kisame before hurrying out into the corridor. It may have been a long time, but to her, all the memories were fresh, so she easily found the route to the blue haired woman's room.

On her way she bumped into Itachi, who seemed to be heading in the same direction.

'Afternoon,' she greeted him pleasantly, smiling when he nodded in response. He fell into step beside her silently, before she could no longer contain her question. 'Hey, Itachi? Erm…'

She faltered, unsure of how to continue, but he guessed where she was headed already. 'I didn't kill him. Just knocked him out.'

'Oh.' She gulped, relieved for her friend, but embarrassed to not even have been able to ask about his well being herself. 'Thank you…'

Sensing her discomfort, the Uchiha switched topics. 'Are you looking for Konan?'

'Yeah I was just on my way to her room.'

'She won't be in there.' Itachi's black eyes flicked down to meet Akira's.

'Oh?' She frowned, confused, then realised what he meant. 'Oh. She's with Pein in the office, right?'

His lips twitched into a small smile in confirmation, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. She couldn't help but feel like he was just a tiny bit proud of her for remembering such a detail, and had to hold back a laugh at the thought of Itachi patting her on the head and telling her 'good job'.

They parted ways at the next corridor, and Akira arrived a few minutes later at her destination. She raised a hand to tap lightly on the door, but the wood disappeared beneath her knuckles and in its place stood said bluenette.

Nerves rising in her throat, Akira offered her a weak smile. 'Erm, did you want to see me?'

'Ah yes, come in, come in!' Bursting into life as though someone had just switched the lights on upstairs, she swung her door open the rest of the way and ushered her in.

Konan perched on the end of the desk which, she noted, looked extremely out of place without it's orange-haired master leaning over it. She wondered briefly where he could be, but lost interest when Konan began to speak.

'Don't look so worried, Akira. It's nothing you can't handle. It should actually be quite easy for you.'

'Right…' Reaching up to tug on a loose lock of teal hair, she shuffled into one of the chairs in an attempt at looking more relaxed, though it didn't work.

'You see, we erm, have this prisoner…'

_Oh. Well, I definitely didn't see that one coming! I didn't even know they had a prison here…_

'He's… Well to put it bluntly he's refusing to cooperate and we think, no, we _know_ he has some vital information about the whereabouts of the ten tails husk.'

The mere mention of the creature sent shivers down Akira's spine as she recalled the first time she had heard about that. That thing could only ever be associated with trouble.

'So you want me to look into his mind and…'

'Exactly.' Konan smiled, clearly pleased that she'd caught on so fast.

Then something struck her. 'You're trusting me with this so soon?' She tilted her head to question her old friend. 'Why can't Itachi do it?'

'We don't all mistrust you, Akira! Though I have to say it did take some convincing to get Pein to agree, but I believe I made the right decision._ I_ trust you.' The woman smiled and Akira blushed feeling slightly overwhelmed by Konan's kind words, as though nothing had ever changed between them.

'And no, Itachi has unfortunately been rendered useless in this situation because this prisoner is immune to the Sharingan.'

Akira blinked at her. 'Is that even possible?'

'Apparently. He's an old experiment of a certain ex-member which we think is the reason behind his immunity… I believe you had the misfortune to meet said man once in the past…'

_Orochimaru._ The mere mention of the man had her recoiling in disgust.

The idea of being able to have a rummage around in someone's mind that had been so close to that vulgar snake scared her, yes, but she was also eager to prove herself. 'Alright. When do I begin?'

* * *

**A/N: **So, as you can see, it's pretty similar but details have been changed to lead the story through the new arc.

I hate to do this, but I'm kinda sad that hardly anyone reviews (Thanks a million to you who does, you know who you are!) so until I get another, lets say 2 reviews, I'm not uploading any more chapter.

It doesn't take any effort guys! Share the love (or hate, I dont mind)!

Peace out x


	11. The Red-haired Spitfire

**A/N: **You'll definitely notice this chapter is VERY similar to my old version of the story but as I keep saying, fear not! It is different in the end.

I also wanna throw in that Tobi/Obito has not been forgotten, I'm just biding my time bringing him out.

Yeah I thought I'd just upload anyway, since where I'm up to with writing this has got pretty exciting so I couldn't wait to get there... :D

Disclaiming, all of Naruto belongs to Kishimoto! Not to me… Because I suck.

* * *

**The Red-haired Spitfire**

'You made Shark face something yesterday! Talk about fucking favouritism…'

'Well Kisame wasn't bugging me all morning!'

'But I'm so. Fucking. Hungry.'

'For the love of God… Shut up, Hidan! You're always hungry.' Kiri snapped, interrupting the argument with a deep scowl, her amber eyes narrowing when he continued to complain.

Akira chuckled. 'I'll bet he eats more in a day than the whole of Japan in a week!' Kiri did her best to ignore her joke, but couldn't hold back the eye roll in agreement. As if on cue, his stomach took this opportunity to growl angrily.

'Well fuck. See what you're doing to me, woman?!'

Rolling her eyes, Akira snuggled further into the couch. The outside frost had somehow managed to creep deep into the hideout, and she shivered lightly as she pulled the collar of her black polo shirt further under her chin.

'It's not that bloody cold…' Hidan muttered as he glowered at her. He was sat next to her on her favourite, scruffy cream sofa, and had been trying and failing to convince her to cook him something all morning.

'It's alright for you guys with your big thick winter cloaks. I don't even have any clothes other than the ones I'm wearing right now!' She pouted childishly, tugging on one sleeve to emphasis her point.

'Oh for the love of Jashin!' Hidan leapt up abruptly, ripping his cloak off to reveal his bare chest and plain black ninja pants. He flung it roughly over Akira, while giving her his best death glare.

'Happy now?!'

From across the room, Kiri stared, bewildered. _Did Hidan just do something nice?_

Akira raised an eyebrow suspiciously. 'I'm still not making any food…'

'Yeah, yeah.' He flopped back onto the couch, plumping the cushions slightly before flicking the TV on.

She stayed quiet for a moment, as if waiting for him to change his mind and tear it back from her, but he didn't. 'Thanks, Hidan.' Her voice was quiet with traces of a smile clinging to her words, and although he didn't respond, she knew he heard her.

********** Two hours later **********

Kiri was pissed. Although she kept her eyes fixed steadily on the TV, she didn't actually have a clue what was on, since she was far too busy glaring at a scene in the corner of her eye. Hidan was never nice for no reason. He had to be up to something. _Surely_.

He was the type to go out and bite your head off for accidentally nudging his elbow while out in a crowd, or viciously sacrifice you to his crazy bloody thirsty God because you tripped and got in his way.

And yet, here he was, allowing this… this _outsider_ to _sleep_ on his _shoulder_. Akira had drifted off shortly after his random act of apparent kindness, and not so long after that, her head had found its way to his arm.

She had been sure that it was Deidara who had some sort of history with her, not Hidan of all people… _Surely not?_

Her thoughts were interrupted as said blonde wandered into the room. She watched him curiously as his eyes landed on the resting pair. He didn't seem too bothered, but the corners of his mouth did turn up into a smirk.

Hidan tried to cross his arms awkwardly. 'Get this thing off me, would ya? I've lost all the damn feeling in my frickin' arm.'

Deidara scoffed. 'Pretty sure that's your cloak covering her, yeah, meaning you obviously got yourself into the situation. Do it yourself!'

He didn't seem jealous in the slightest. Kiri stared harder, but if anything he just seemed to find it amusing.

Irritated, Hidan began to grumble to himself. 'I'm fucking starving and its fucking cold now and my fucking arm is dead and–'

'HEY, AKIRA, WAKE UP ALREADY!'

Akira, Hidan and Deidara jumped simultaneously in surprise. Kiri gave them her sweetest smile, secretly thrilled that her outburst had broken the tranquillity.

'W-what? What happened?' Still coming around, Akira groaned and stretched out, only then realising where she'd been sleeping. Her cheeks tinged pink as she sprung up, Hidan's cloak tumbling to the floor in a heap. 'S-sorry! Food. I'll make food.' She made a quick getaway and practically ran for the kitchen.

From the safety of the next room, she could hear Deidara and Hidan as they whined about Kiri's eruption.

Akira frowned as she began to prepare a loosely thought-out meal. _Kiri really doesn't seem to like me… Maybe she just doesn't trust me, after all we've never really spoken properly… _Trying to remain positive, Akira decided that with time and a bit of encouragement, she'd settle down.

Humming subconsciously as she worked, she listened half-heartedly as footsteps sounded in the hall, slowly approaching the kitchen.

Glancing over her shoulder, she found the red head in question leaning casually against the doorframe, a strange, distant expression on her face.

Jumping at the chance to befriend the girl, Akira greeted her politely.

'Oh, Kiri. Can I get you something?' She tried to make her smile genuine, but something about the way girl's amber eyes glazed as she spoke unnerved her.

'It won't work on me.'

Akira put down the knife she'd been chopping with and met Kiri's cool gaze. She tilted her head slightly, trying to guess what she meant. 'Erm, I don't know what–'

'Don't play cute with me. I told you, it won't work.' She laughed once, humourlessly. When Akira's face remained in the same state of confusion, she rolled her eyes and continued. 'You may have the Akatsuki fooled, wrapped around your little finger, but I know you're up to something. Worming your way back in here like you're Queen of the world, well I'm warning you, _back off_. Because _I'm_ not going to bow down to _you_.'

And with that, she spun on her heel and stalked off into the corridor, leaving an open-mouthed Akira staring after her.

********** Elsewhere **********

'I still can't believe Lady Mei agreed to this. It's ridiculous, and why I was roped in I'll never know.'

Haru glared at their Captain's back as they ran, but he didn't blame him for being a little mad. He knew he probably just wanted to keep an eye on the Mist leader, especially after everything that had happened. But he was relieved Mei had agreed so easily to their search and rescue party. Haru had his suspicions of why she allowed him to go though, the guilt on her face was evident when Akira's name had been mentioned. She clearly blamed herself in some way for the girl's capture, after all, if she hadn't suggested using her Kekkei Genkai on the prisoner in the first place, she would never have been taken.

Ao was one of the Mizukage's most trusted shinobi, and so for her to send him on their mission was just further proof that she felt some responsibility for what happened.

'She's close… I can sense it. They came this way. The feeling is faint, but it's definitely there.'

'How close, Ao?' Haru picked up the pace, unable to hold back for much longer.

'I'd say within a ten mile radius… maybe 15.'

'Okay. What's that plan?'

'We're close to the Hidden Rain… If they went through that village it'll be difficult to continue to track them. The people of Ame are very mistrusting and incredibly secretive. We're better splitting up for now and trying to enter in smaller groups. Haru, you go in first with Daisuke and Jana. Then I'll go with Dara and Tenza later. Your story is, we were specifically requested for a mission by Ryuuga Yurano, he's the landlord of the Horsefly Inn, an old friend of the Mizukage. Meet outside the tallest building in 2 hours.'

'Yes, captain!'

The group leapt apart, chakra outstretched and searching as they headed for the Amekagure from different angles. Haru took up the rear of his trio, scanning every tree, every leaf, every morsel of land for any indication of her passing through. He didn't care what anyone said. She had been his best friend for the best part of the past two years, and he was not about to give up on her this easily.

********** Later **********

'Haru, straight ahead!' He heard Daisuke call back to him, and he squinted in the distance at a small opening in the wall surrounding the village. Two village guards met them a few feet away from the entrance, requesting to see their ninja IDs and quizzing them on their reasons for entering.

'We're here by request of Ryuuga Yurano from the Hidden Mist Village.'

'I see. Very well, we'll need your names and signatures over there,' he pointed to a chart on the desk when the other guard was now standing, 'and please note the date and time of your arrival. Thank you.'

They did as requested and hurried into the village before anyone could change their minds.

'That was easier than expected… I wonder what the others are going to use as their cover story?' Daisuke murmured as he matched Haru's quick pace.

'Guys, slow down! You look suspicious!' Jana hissed, catching them up and tugging on Haru's arm. He narrowed his chocolate eyes as he scanned the skyline for the tallest building. One stood out clearly near the rear of the town, and the trio pulled their hooded cloaks further around them as they headed for their destination.

********** At the base **********

Akira was confused. She didn't understand what had gotten Kiri so angry with her. _I don't _think_ I have an ulterior motive…_ She had tried to shake the miserable feeling several times that day, but nothing seemed to work. She just kept arriving at the same image of Kiri's angry face when she told her 'she knew she was up to something'.

She decided to concentrate on the task Konan had discussed with her. It would start tonight at 6pm, in their prison. They said she was too faint-hearted, which was apparently why Akira was previously unaware of it. She had to wonder how she always managed to end up in places and situations like that.

She was sat in the training room, hoping no one would find her as she attempted to arrange her muddled mind once more, but Deidara knew her too well.

'Hey,' he mumbled as he settled himself onto the bench next to her, nudging her shoulder lightly as he did so. 'What you doing here all alone, yeah?'

'I was just thinking…'

'Konan fill you in on your mission, hmm?'

'Yep.'

'And?'

'And what?'

'Are you gonna do it?'

'Of course I am.' She frowned at the bomber who was watching her strangely. 'Why wouldn't I?'

'Well I figured since you used to come here to do your 'thinking' when something bothered you, maybe you didn't wanna do it, hm.'

She sighed and raised her eyes to meet his concerned gaze, reaching for a piece of her loose hair to tug at as she did. 'It's not that, I just have a lot on my mind these days… I'm sure you know what I mean.'

He 'hmm'ed and began to poke at the rough ground with a stick, drawing meaningless swirls. She watched, oddly fascinated. After a few minutes, he spoke again, his voice soft but guarded. 'Where did you go?'

'Nowhere… I came straight here.'

'No, I meant… two years ago… after, you know…'

'Oh.' She grimaced at the mention of two years ago and released the teal strand she'd been twisting. 'Erm, I just sort of, wandered for a bit. I had no idea where I was or what had happened. Some ninja eventually found me by the West border of the Land of Fire.'

'Leaf ninja?'

'No, Mist. That's how I ended up there, they'd been heading back from a mission and they just sort of, adopted me, I suppose.' She smiled fondly, thinking back to how Haru and his team had fussed and squabbled over what to do with her. 'The Mizukage was suspicious at first, so had a few Jounin keep an eye on me, but it was pretty obvious that I had no recollection of what had gone on, so they let me stay.'

'I see.'

'What about you? What happened here?' She almost didn't want to know the answer, but she also didn't want to avoid the question any longer.

His expression changed oddly, to one she did not entirely recognise on Deidara's face. He looked almost ashamed. 'Nothing really. There wasn't much to do. The mission was over and Orochimaru had vanished… Hidan was pretty pissed he had no one fun left to annoy, yeah. His constant complaining was the main reason they started hiring new members.' He chuckled softly, keeping his story light-hearted. 'Then they found Kiri, or rather, she found us, yeah.'

'Oh really?'

'Yeah, she was a right little spitfire, wouldn't take no for an answer. Pein had no choice but to accept her!' Akira could tell he was holding back on something, she just couldn't decide what on.

'She only looks young. How old is she anyway? And what's her 'specialty'?'

'She's 18 now. 17 when she joined.' There was that expression again. 'She can 'call' the weather, yeah. It's pretty freaky actually; you wouldn't think someone so little could muster that much power. It's the lightning that you wanna watch out for though, knocks you out like a light bulb…'

'Heh, sounds explosive…' She winked, playfully.

He grinned, his attention sparking at the mention of his artistic destruction. 'Believe me, it is!'

Akira laughed and rolled her eyes at his predictable response, as she started to get to her feet. 'Come on, I'd better go find this prison, it's almost 6…' Her expression sobering as she spoke.

* * *

**A/N: **So once again poor Akira has managed to land herself an interrogation job despite hating everything and anything to do with violence. R&amp;R people!


	12. Not Useless

**A/N: **I've changed and added some stuff in this part of the story, I hope you're enjoying what I'm doing and if anyone is getting impatient for Tobi/Obito… he is in here! Even if only briefly, it's all relevant.

Hope you likey.

I still don't own Naruto, and I don't think I'm ever going to.

* * *

**N****ot Useless**

To Akira's dismay, the dungeon the Akatsuki held couldn't even hold a candle to the one in the Hidden Mist. Literally. The pitch black corridor that led to the cells was narrow and cold, and the green-haired girl had to supress a violent shiver as she scuttled after the two Akatsuki in front of her. Itachi, leading the way, halted outside the third cell along, performing a simple hand sign that surprised Akira, to say the least. She'd have thought their security system for their prisons would have been much tighter, but apparently that was all there was to it. Were they that confident? Guess so.

Inside, the cell was small and cramped, a drastic contrast to the one Deidara had previously been held in that she had visited so many times. She glanced up at said blonde, who threw her a look that read, 'and you thought _I_ had it bad'. She scowled at his lack of concern for whoever it was she'd be 'interrogating' and took a few cautious steps forward.

She paused about a foot from the prisoner, taking a moment to examine his condition. It was pretty poor, to say the least.

'We're going to lock the door behind you. He shouldn't be too much trouble. If you need us, we'll be right outside.' Itachi placed a supportive hand on her shoulder for a split-second, before turning to leave her alone. She waited until the sound of the lock clicking shut sounded, before she knelt down slowly in front of him.

'Okay…' She started, more to herself as she exhaled slowly. 'Can you tell me your name?'

The man stared at her, his expression vacant through his glazed eyes.

'I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to know your name.'

The man spat viciously at her feet, making her flinch. 'S…Screw y-you…' He spluttered, before breaking into a violent coughing fit.

She rocked back on her heels, still crouching before him. She didn't just want to dive straight into his mind, it didn't seem right. Then again, since when did anything the Akatsuki did seem right? Sucking in a breath and trying to look brave, she tried again.

'I'll ask you once more.' She pinched his chin in her hand, softer than she'd intended, and tugged his face up to meet hers. 'What is your name?'

The man regarded her cautiously. His eyes bore into her own, deep and searching, as though viewing her entire life in that one second. Eventually, he answered. 'Kota. My n-name… is Kota.'

His breath was hot and stale on her face, sending shivers down her spine and making her want to gag.

'Kota. My name is Akira.'

'It's no use, you know.' He paused to give another, whooping cough, his bloodshot eyes wide and bulging. 'I'll never speak, I vowed… I would n-never speak of that… that place again…'

'What if I'm not here to speak to you?' She tried to keep the hostility out of her voice. The man was clearly traumatised. She remembered briefly that Konan had mentioned this guy was 'an old experiment' and, though she wasn't certain, she had a pretty good idea that this 'place' Kota was referring to was Orochimaru's hideout.

'Don't you… think they've t-tried that? L-look at me. I'll never speak…'

'Kota, I'm not here to torture you. I just want to know what you know. I'm just going to have a look…' She began to lift her arms up to steady the man's face, her fingers outstretched in advance.

He suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, startling her so much that she almost lost her balance.

'You… want to see… the things I've seen, nooooo…' His eyes glinted wildly, no longer seeing her before him, but staring right through her. 'You… _girl_… cannot even imagine the things… that I have seen…'

Suddenly, he lunged for her. She yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards as his hands clamped tightly around her throat.

Despite his condition, he pinned her easily to the hard stone floor, laughing crazily as he wheezed. She scrabbled desperately against him but he was strangely heavy for such a scrawny man.

'Akira!'

Over the blood rushing through her ears, she could vaguely hear the door rattling urgently as the Akatsuki hurried to release the seals, and the sound of frantic shouts from behind it.

'Damn it, Itachi, open the door!'

'Shut up, I am doing!'

Her lungs burned as she gasped for air, her futile thrashing slowing as the man leaned down further, his weight crushing her. Salty tears began to cloud her eyes, mingled with strange dark spots that had begun to form in her vision.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the hands were torn away from her neck and she felt herself being half dragged and half carried into the corridor.

She could hear muffled voices talking, though despite her best efforts she couldn't understand what they were saying. She blinked several times as she tried to focus on the blurry figures that crowded her, but her ragged breathing continued to demand her full attention. Squeezing her eyes shut, she ignored everything and just tried to breathe.

In. Out. In. Out. Slowly. Slowly…

When her breathing eventually began to steady, she gradually started to will her eyes open. At first, the light was blinding. The ringing in her ears was starting to subside, and as she continued to focus her vision on the hazy outlines before her, she listened.

'Give her some space already!' Kisame's gruff voice echoed in her ears, until a sharp tone from Deidara cut it off. When had Kisame arrived?

'Shut up, she's coming round…'

'Move.' That was Itachi. Cool fingertips were pressed lightly against her temples, and she twitched uncomfortably at the contact. 'She'll be alright. Kisame, get her some water.'

She found herself waiting for Deidara to speak again. She wanted to hear his voice, to know he was still there. She reached out blindly, mumbling his name incoherently as she did. A hand clasped gently around hers, and she forced a tiny shadow of a smile when she traced the outline of a mouth in its palm.

********** Later that night **********

'How are you feeling?'

'I told you, I'm fine! I was just surprised is all…' Akira glared at the bomber as he perched on the edge of her bed, one eyebrow raised to show his mistrust in her words.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. 'Are you just going to keep staring disapprovingly until I tell you I'm not okay? Is that what you want?'

He chuckled and shoved her to the side slightly, making room for himself to prop his back up against the headboard and sit next to her fully. He was mildly surprised when she let him, but even more so when she let her head fall onto his shoulder and let out another, more relaxed sigh, not that he minded.

'I really am fine. I'm not useless…' She mumbled, more to herself than him.

'I never said that, yeah.'

She twirled a strand of hair around one finger as she grumbled her response. 'If he hadn't surprised me so much I could have fended him off. It's not like I'm used to that sort of environment anyway. The last prisoner I had to deal with was far more cooperative…'

He chuckled again as he realised she was referring to him, lifting one hand to snatch the piece of hair from her fingers.

'Hey!' She pouted as he tugged on it gently.

'What have I told you about that habit, hm?' He smirked as she blushed, catching her eye as he let the captured strand slide free. Two sets of blue eyes locked together for a few short moments, neither daring to move for fear of breaking the connection. Akira held her breath as she swore she saw him inch forward, barely noticeably but there was definitely less space between them that a second ago.

Suddenly, the scene was shattered by Konan bursting abruptly through Akira's bedroom door.

'Akira! What happened?! Kisame said that– Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting…' Her eyes glinted mischievously as the blonde sprang to his feet, muttering something about going to find Itachi, which only proved to make Konan's grin spread wider since it was hardly a secret that Deidara hated the Uchiha.

'So…' Konan began, feigning innocence as she settled herself delicately on the end of the bed, her eyes never once leaving Akira's scarlet face. 'How do you feel?'

'You know what, I'm not sure I do feel so fine anymore.'

Konan laughed, thankfully opting not to comment on _that_ situation any further. 'Seriously though, I feel like I must apologise. It was me who put you up to–'

'What? No don't apologise! I'm glad to have something to do if I'm honest. It's going to be pretty boring trapped inside all the time, so if you have anything I can do I want to help!'

'I should have upped the security. I'd feel awful if anything had seriously happened…'

'I'm fine, really! I do want to help you, please, let me try again…'

'What? Absolutely not, he could have killed you!'

'No, Konan! It was my own stupid fault, I wasn't prepared and I let my guard down. It'll definitely go differently next time, I swear!'

Konan stood up to pace lightly as she chewed her lip indecisively. Akira wasn't going to let this drop so easily, she could see that in her eyes. The girl was stubborn naturally yes, but she was also determined, which only added to the difficulty of shooting her down.

After another long moment of deliberation, Konan sighed, and Akira knew she had won her friend over.

'Two conditions.'

Her cobalt eyes shimmered as she grinned. 'Of course, anything!'

'Firstly, that man is going to be bound and chained while you're in there.'

'Okay…' She had expected that anyway. To be honest, she was surprised that wasn't their original policy anyway, the Akatsuki weren't exactly known to be very trusting of enemies.

'Second, I want at least one member with you in there at all times. Do you understand?' Konan did her best impression of being stern, but Akira just continued to grin as she agreed.

'Okay. I'm going soft…' The bluenette sighed as she headed for the door. 'Just, be careful.'

'I will. Thanks, Konan,' She gave her a genuine smile and watched as the older woman left her room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Akira leaned back on her bed and stared up at the bland ceiling. She wanted so badly to belong somewhere, to be useful to someone or just to prove her worth. The incident with Kota had been a silly mistake on her part, though she didn't blame the man himself. How could she? She'd probably react the same way to someone if they'd held _her_ captive and tortured _her_ for God knows how long.

Come to think of it, how long was she going to stay here for this time? And what of the Mist ninja? Had they recovered from the attack on the village when they had escaped? And Haru, was he okay? He was probably out of his mind with worry by now, desperate for answers and desperate to find her.

She swallowed the growing guilt forcefully as she rolled onto her side, letting her eyes slide shut as she concentrated on breathing and resigned herself to sleep, allowing the night to consume her as she drifted away.

********** Elsewhere **********

'So where are they?' A gruff voice echoed around the office, and Kiri had to suppress a shiver as she answered.

'They're staying at the Horsefly Inn in town, sir...'

'And you're telling me because?'

'T-they came looking for Akira. I think we can use them against her…'

'And why is that any use to me?'

'Because I'm sure she's up to something. I don't know what yet… But I don't trust her.' From behind the mask of the man before her, she heard him snicker, so briefly that she wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

'Do what you like. It concerns me not. Dismissed.'

'Y-yes, sir. Thank you, sir.' She hurried out of the office, letting out a deep breath as she closed the door behind her. That guy gave her the creeps…

* * *

**A/N: **So I added some extra fluff in this chapter which I hope you appreciated, also, I love the idea of Konan playing matchmaker, hence the reaction she had to the 'situation'.

Let me know what you thought.


	13. A Warning

**A/N: **Hey, VampireBasket reporting for duty! Another chapter for you my faithful readers (shout if you're out there!)

If you didn't hate Kiri before, hopefully you will after this… I'll be worried if she's anyone's favourite character!

Disclaimer: I just don't okay? I don't own Naruto. There.

* * *

**A Warning**

Remembering the chill of the prison cells, Akira pulled on an oversized hooded jacket that she had 'borrowed' from Deidara, and headed to the staircase that led to the dungeons.

Two of the Akatsuki were already there, waiting to greet her again.

'Hey, isn't that mine?' Deidara accused, pulling the too-big hood up over her head so that it covered her eyes.

'I don't know what you're talking about!' She grinned as she peeped out from under it.

'Come on, you two. You can flirt later…' Kisame chuckled as he led the way, ignoring their glares of denial.

Once in the cell corridor, Kisame unlocked the door and she went to step through it eagerly, but Deidara nipped in front before she could enter, leading the way defensively. Strangely, she didn't feel afraid or nervous as she entered. Instead, a strong feeling of unwavering determination washed over her.

The man was, as Konan had said, bound and chained. Her eyes wandered over his frail frame, pausing to wince at the way the chains cut deep into his wrists leaving them raw and bloody.

Deidara moved to stand at the side of him, yanking on the chains harshly and making her jump as the man was hoisted to his feet.

'I'll be outside…' Kisame gave the blonde a nod before closing and locking the door behind him.

The prisoner, Kota as she recalled, began to wheeze heavily as he raised his glassy eyes to meet hers, a cruel, twisted grin spreading across his face. 'S-so…' He coughed painfully. 'Back again?'

Akira kept her eyes on his as she moved to stand directly before him. He grimaced slightly when Deidara tightened his grip on the chains.

'It's alright, Dei…' His cheeks tinged pink in surprise at the old nickname, which did not go unmissed by Kota, who began to laugh brokenly.

'Look… You s-seem like… a nice enough thing–' Another series of hacking erupted from his throat and Akira realised grimly that he was not going to last much longer like this.

'Weird way to address the girl you almost killed, yeah…' Deidara grumbled.

They ignored him and Kota continued. 'What's a thing like you… d-doing with this crowd?'

Shaking her growing concern for the dying man, she shot down his question. 'I'm not here to talk about my situation, Kota.'

His eyebrows lifted at the use of his name. ''Situation', eh? Not here b-by choice?'

Deidara shifted uncomfortably in the corner of her eye, and she decided hastily to move things along. 'Hold still, please.'

He swallowed hard, blinking furiously as she lifted one hand towards him. She touched two fingers softly to his forehead, applying slight pressure as a pale glow began to form around them.

With that, she was in. She scanned the mass of fluttering papers that surrounded her, until her sight dipped into a scene from two years ago. Kota was lying face down on what looked like a dentist table. He was screaming, an ear-piercing sound that hurt her ears, even if it was just an echo. Akira looked around the room he was in. He wasn't alone…

An unusual searing pain shot through her head behind her eyes, like a jolt of electricity, making her flinch. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't quite like what she normally felt when her host was resisting her Jutsu. Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate.

Two yellow eyes lined with purple that she remembered all too well stared through her, unseeing. Orochimaru. He was carrying something sharp that vaguely resembled a needle of sorts, but before she could decipher it, her vision blurred. She was running out of time.

Pulling back from the sheet she selected another, more recent memory. Kota was in a prison cell, not dissimilar from this one. Voices sounded from behind the bolted door and after a moment she recognised them as Kabuto and Orochimaru. They were talking in a hushed tone, so it was difficult to make out, but the words 'powerful' and 'husk' sprung out to her. _Finally something of significance!_ She tucked the memory away in her mind and prepared to leave.

There was suddenly a faint voice echoing in the distance, the words rumbling through her head like distant thunder in a valley. She clutched her hair as she staggered backwards in pain, but the voice only grew.

She did her best to listen intently as the echoing cleared enough for her to make out the words. 'They are hiding something from you, something dark, a great evil.'

_What the heck does that mean?_

Unable to focus on that right now, she scrunched her eyes as the throbbing pounded harder to the point where it half blinded her.

Then, a sharp ripple of air erupted around her, sending her flailing out of his mind and backwards, until her back collided with something cold and hard. Deidara was in front of her in a flash, and she shook her head to clear her mind. The throbbing was gone, all the pain washed away the second she left Kota's mind.

'What happened, yeah? Are you alright? You're chakra was…' He paused, watching her cautiously. 'It was gone… It was weird, yeah, just for a moment, it just flickered away…'

She blinked hard, tilting her head to peek over his shoulder at the man. He was lying face down on the ground, not moving.

'Is he…' She began, but the answer began to dawn on her before the bomber had a chance to reply. 'Oh my God…'

'…He's dead.'

********** Later **********

Akira had seen her fair share of death in her time, but she had never experienced it from inside someone's head before. It disturbed her to say the least. That night, she hardly slept, tossing and turning repeatedly for what seemed like an eternity, until eventually she could take it no more. Slipping into some black socks, she inched into the corridor and, seeing that the coast was clear, tiptoed towards the dungeons.

She wasn't really sure why she was headed there, only that something during the 'interrogation' had seemed off. He'd been trying to tell her something, in his head with that small message, she just had to figure out what. She had purposely failed to add this minor detail in her mission report, though she had included the main point of her being there.

The memory she had stored away was the one from when Kota had been in the hands of Orochimaru, and had overheard a conversation between the merciless snake and his faithful accomplice, Kabuto.

She had willingly shared the memory with Konan, who had muttered that it appeared that they had been onto something where searching for the ten tails husk was concerned. The blue-haired woman had thanked her and hurried off to file the report and fill their orange-haired leader in.

Being alone in the drafty corridors allowed her to race through the base all the way to the prison cells corridor, half-slamming the door shut behind her.

_Hmm. Now what?_

She wandered up to the viewing window that had once held Orochimaru's ex test subject. She sighed loudly, what was she even doing here?

'Can't sleep, _Akira_?' At the way her name was hissed, she instantly recognised Kiri's harsh voice, but she jumped in shock all the same and spun around.

Cruel amber eyes narrowed onto her innocent blue irises. 'K-Kiri? I was just…'

'Just what? Hm? What exactly _are_ you doing here?'

'…I could ask you the same thing…' She mumbled under her breath, before speaking more clearly to the redhead. 'I'm not sure. I just needed some space to think.'

'Or plot whatever you're up to…' Kiri scowled, crossing her arms over her chest and inching forward out of the shadows.

Choosing to ignore her comment, Akira tried futilely to change the subject. 'What are you doing down here anyway? Aren't you cold?'

'I'm on guard duty. We have other prisoners you know.' She stated blandly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'What's wrong with your room? Not enough 'space' in there?'

'Listen, Kiri, I think we got off to a bad start… I'm not here to cause trouble. I didn't even come here voluntarily! I'm just here, I haven't done anything for you to mistrust me–'

A single, loud clapping noise suddenly echoed through the atmosphere, bouncing off the walls and down the hall. Akira blinked slowly, a dull tingling sensation growing in her right cheek.

'Don't you _dare_ speak to me like that.' Venom dripping from every word, Kiri gave Akira one final furious glare before disappearing into the darkness.

Akira raised one hand slowly to her now burning cheek. _Did that just happen?_ Something wet trickled down the hand that clutched her face, a soft whimper escaping her lips before she could stop it.

Kiri just slapped her! And for what? For trying to make peace? Unable to shake the feeling that she was missing something, Akira turned slowly to stumble back through the damp corridors, pausing outside a simple wooden door, her hand hovering over its handle. She wiped her free arm across her eyes, drying them gently with her sleeve, before hobbling forward into the room.

Her head hurt, her vision was hazy and her feet moved on autopilot.

'…Akira? What're you doing up?' The Akatsuki member before her glanced at the clock on his desk, it was 1am.

She stared at the male before her, unsure of how she even got here. 'I erm… I couldn't sleep.'

'Are you alright, hm? Have you been crying?' Standing up from the chair he'd been sat at, he crossed the room to stand in front of her, leaving a small, half carved model behind him.

He pulled her face up carefully with one hand, forcing her to look up as he examined her reddened eyes and swollen cheek.

'I'm fine.' She shook her head free of his grasp and dropped her gaze back to the floor, mumbling something incoherent about being tired.

'Where've you been, yeah?'

'Mmm…'

He frowned at her lack of response, tugging on her hand and leading to his bed. She followed absently, eyes sliding shut as soon as her head hit the pillow. He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as he watched her sleep, concern knotting in the pit of his stomach.

Now unconscious, she could no longer shrug out of his grasp as he tilted her face once again. There was a definite colour difference between her cheeks, an angry looking red mark forming under her right eye. She looked as though… she'd been slapped?_ Surely not…_

He turned his hand over to place the back of his hand against the cheek in question. It was still hot, so whatever had happened, had happened recently.

He let out the breath he had subconsciously been holding and backed up, tearing his eyes off the sleeping girl and trying and failing to concentrate on the sculpture he'd been working on.

_Maybe I'll mention it to Konan in the morning…_

*********** Elsewhere **********

'And you're absolutely, 100% certain that she didn't see you?'

'Well… I'd say more 80% sure…'

'Daisuke!'

The teen shrunk back slightly as his entire team shouted his name in despair. 'Well I did my best but the weather was really difficult to see through so I couldn't actually tell where she was looking… But she was one of them. Of that I'm sure.'

Ao sighed, scratching the back of his head in irritation. 'Alright. So we know the Akatsuki are here. But we're still technically no closer to finding that damn kid.'

'Hey!' Haru pouted, earning a glare from their Captain. 'Either way, the redheads our lead! If Daisuke saw the cloak right–'

'Which I did.' The auburn-haired boy cut in as Haru continued.

''Then she is with the Akatsuki! Find them, find Akira. So Ao, what next?'

The jounin rolled his eyes as his enthusiasm. 'Next, we rest. It's late, we're tired, we're getting nowhere like this. Sleep first, track tomorrow.'

The stubborn boy began to protest, but Ao cut him short. 'No complaining. My word is final.'

'…Fine.' Haru grumbled, standing up from their table and heading to the back of the inn where they were staying.

The others trailed after him. They knew tomorrow was going to be busy, so they might as well make the most of the little rest they would get.

* * *

**A/N: **I have way more time to finish this now because I've just recently finished my SasorixOC story 'You Belong To Me' which is on Inkitt's fandom2 contest if anyone fancies throwing me a vote for that :)

My inspiration's been low lately, but then I got a lovely review that made me want to continue. :) So thank you!


	14. Even Criminals Go Shopping!

**A/N: **So has anyone read the new spin off Naruto manga? I have yet to read it, but I am going to at some point! Also, if you haven't seen the Naruto SD series Rock Lee and co… You should. It's hilarious. And adorable.

ANYWAY. More fluff coming up! Yay for fluff!

Still a disclaimer.

* * *

**Even Criminals Go Shopping!**

The first thing she felt was warm. Extremely, comfortably and unusually warm.

Akira rolled over onto her other side, snuggling her face into the pillow as she breathed in the strange but alluring scent of wood and something unidentified. It reminded her of a bonfire, filling her nose as she released a long sigh of contentment.

She was suddenly aware of a faint, rhythmic thumping sound that was suspiciously close to her ear, so close, that she could almost feel it inside her head. Cracking one eye open lazily, she let her gaze drift around the room.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was when she looked again, more closely at her surroundings that she noticed the subtle differences. She'd thought her room was smaller than this… Weren't her shelves and cupboards bare, not filled with tiny models and what looked like sculpting tools? And when did she get that desk?

She lifted her head curiously, flipping on the lamp beside her and glancing at the clock. It was 9:30am, but since there was no windows to let any natural light in, without the clock it could have been any time and she wouldn't have known any different. It was only then that Akira realised her pillow was moving, eyebrows scrunching slightly in confusion.

She lowered her gaze cautiously, bright blue eyes widening insanely when they locked with another pair of hazy blue ones.

She gasped, startled, leaping back against the wall as far from her 'pillow' as possible. 'D-Deidara! What's… Why am I… Why are you…'

Still half asleep, the blonde groaned and crossed his arms at the elbows over his face to block the lamplight. 'Mm, turn it off…' He mumbled, drifting back to sleep.

'Deidara!' She prodded his side, making him flinch and lazily bat her hand away.

'Urgh… What time is it?' He grumbled, his words muffled from beneath his arms.

'It's half 9… But what's going on? Why am I here?'

He lowered one arm just enough to peep at her from behind it. 'You came here last night and pretty much fell asleep without any explanation.' He muttered, deliberately leaving out the fact that her cheek had been practically glowing red and rolling over to face away from the light.

She huffed in irritation. Then it hit her, later than it should have, but she supposed that delayed remembrance was probably a side effect of her memory being erased. The events of the previous night crashing back into her memory. _Shit._ How was she going to explain that? She obviously couldn't tell anyone what happened, it's not like she wanted to give Kiri any more reason to hate her! Besides, Akira had never been one to 'snitch'.

'Akira, you're not breathing.' Deidara reminded her casually, not bothering to reopen his eyes as he attempted to drift back to sleep.

She released a sharp breath when she realised that he was in fact right. Maybe he wouldn't mention it, he didn't exactly seem fully conscious right now anyway.

'So what happened last night, yeah? Why _did_ you come to my room?'

_Damn it._

'I erm, I just couldn't sleep after the whole prisoner thing…' She lied quickly.

He raised an eyebrow and opened one eye. 'Yeah well you seemed pretty tired when you got here, yeah.' Then after a moment, he muttered, 'you're a terrible liar.'

She sighed and stood up on the bed, pulling the cover with her and stepping over Deidara, careful not to stand on him as she made for the exit.

She ignored his groaning of protest as dropped the duvet and let it pool around her feet in the centre of the room. She paused before reaching for the door handle, glancing back over her shoulder to where the bomber was now lying on his back and rubbing his eyes.

'Hey, Dei?'

'Hmm?'

'Sorry I erm, fell asleep on your bed…'

He smirked sleepily. 'Doesn't bother me, yeah. Except the waking me up and stealing my warmth part…'

She flushed scarlet and turned away to hide her embarrassment. 'Well, sorry anyway…'

'…Gonna tell me what happened?'

She debated momentarily, but she already knew her decision was final. She shook her head and listened to him shuffle around collecting the covers off the floor and throwing them back on the bed messily.

He appeared at her side and held open the door for her. 'Alright then. Come on.'

'Come on, where?'

'Well we might as well get some food now we're both up, right?'

Grinning, she nodded, relieved that any awkwardness there could have been between the pair had been brushed off.

It's not like they were strangers anyway.

********** Later that day **********

'God, it feels so nice to actually breathe some fresh air for once!' Akira tilted her head backwards, stretching her arms out on either side of her exaggeratedly. She let her eyelids slide shut slightly as she basked in the bright, but clouded daylight.

'Come on, Weirdo.' Deidara sauntered past, flicking her lightly on the back of the head as he did.

'Aw, you're no fun.' She giggled, skipping after him happily. 'Come on, Hidan, Kakuzu, or we'll leave you behind!'

'Please do…' Kakuzu grumbled from behind his collar, purposely pulled up extra high for today.

'I don't see why women get so fucking excited about shopping. All you do is walk round and look at stuff…' Hidan muttered, but it was obvious that his mood had improved upon leaving the boring confines of the Akatsuki base.

The boys had been shuffled into escorting their green-haired member to the nearby village, by the orders of their second-in-command, Konan. She had finally decided that it had been too long since Akira had had some of her own clothes, rather than borrowing hand-me-downs from herself and, when forced, from Kiri.

Hidan had been sent out to simply provide some relief to the base from his endless moaning of boredom. Kakuzu hadn't had a choice either, since he was in charge of the group finances – not that he was entirely willing to part with any of it – and Deidara, because Konan didn't trust Hidan and Kakuzu alone to be civilised in public.

They arrived in no time, much to Kakuzu's dismay. He practically had to hold the girl still as he laid out some ground rules. 'Listen up. We're here for one set of clothes, and one set of _appropriate_ footwear. You have a budget of 3000 yen and I want to be no longer than one hour. Understood?'

'3000 yen? You can't even get a pair of boots for that! I need _at least_ 10000…'

Kakuzu glared at her and rubbed his temples. He began to get the sinking feeling this was going to take longer than he hoped. 'You can take 5000. End of discussion.'

Akira pouted but accepted the money anyway. 'Where shall we meet you?'

'We?' Hidan raised an irritated eyebrow, not liking the sound of this.

'Of course… I need your valuable opinions!' She chuckled jokingly, gesturing to Hidan and Deidara. They both began to protest, but she cut them off, pulling an innocent face. 'Well unless you want me to take aaaaaages on my own…'

'Alright! Fine, yeah. How come Kakuzu gets out of it?' Deidara huffed, crossing his arms.

'Because Kakuzu is busy.' Said man answered for himself in third person, already making his escape and heading for the nearest bar. He needed a good stiff drink.

********** Back at the base **********

'So, now we're the ones being hunted, eh?' The dark figure smirked behind his mask, folding his arms as he leaned forward. 'I have to say, this is all highly entertaining but I'm still failing to see your concern.'

The red-haired girl that stood before him scowled into the darkness. 'Because they've come this far, who's to say they won't make it all the way, find the hideout and declare war on us all?'

The man laughed once, making her flinch at the harsh sound. 'Have you no faith that we can hold our own against a few puny Mist nin?'

'With all due respect, sir… It's not just the Mist that are against our goals. If they choose to involve the other villages, or the other nations…' She trailed off, not needing to voice any more of her worries. It's not like he was taking her on anyway, more like humouring her for the time being.

'So what is your point exactly?'

'My point is that she ca–'

'Can't be trusted, up to something, blah, blah. I know all that. Anything I haven't heard yet?'

Kiri shuffled awkwardly, suddenly finding her hands very interesting, until she eventually mumbled, 'they just need to lose our trail…'

The man sighed, standing up abruptly. 'Fine. I'll send her away for a while. They'll lose the scent, leave the village and all your worries will be gone. Now clear out of my office and stop pestering me with your pathetic problems.'

The girl did just that, scurrying out of the shadowy room faster than a lightning strike.

********** In the village **********

'Oh my God~, they all look the same, just _pick_ one already!' Deidara was slumped against the wall outside the changing room.

Hidan hadn't spoken for a while. He'd long since lost interest in offering his 'opinion' and was now trying to decide how quickly he could sacrifice all the staff in this Jashin-damned shop.

'They aren't the same! I don't want to get the strappy one because it's cold and the long sleeved one is too blue!'

'How can something be too blue? Konan owes us for this, big time.' The blonde mumbled under his breath. 'What's wrong with the green one?'

'I dunno… Is it not a bit boyish?'

He slapped a hand over his face and groaned. Kakuzu would be so pissed off when they eventually joined him; they were two hours late already.

'Okay, I think I've decided. How about this?' The cubicle door clicked and swung open, to show Akira wearing a plain black skirt, which slanted across the bottom, so that one side fell just below her knee. It had a long slit running up the shorter side revealing dark grey shorts underneath that tightly hugged her thighs. Her black top was loose, with three quarter sleeves and hung just above her stomach, showing the rim of her waist.

Hidan was suddenly paying attention again, and gave her a teasing wolf whistle. 'That's great, now can we PLEASE get out of here?'

Akira's face twisted into astonishment as the back of her hand flew dramatically to her forehead. 'Hidan saying please? What have I done to you?!'

'Yeah, yeah, hilarious.' He rolled his magenta eyes and stomped off to the exit, aggressively hurling some money at a startled cashier.

Deidara threw the man a quick explanatory nod, gesturing to Akira's outfit, and the pair hurried outside after Hidan.

Kakuzu _was_ pissed. Literally. As in, drunk out of his mind, hammered, smashed, off his face, pissed. Akira had to bite her thumb to keep from bursting into laughter the whole way home as he swayed awkwardly and fumbled with his wallet, stuffing in the few spare notes they'd had left.

They arrived at the base a few minutes later, pausing outside so Hidan could force several bottles of water down his partner's throat in an attempt to sober him up. The Jashinist didn't bother to hide his amusement, sniggering when Kakuzu spluttered the liquid clumsily and it dribbled it down his front.

As soon as they entered, Akira left the three of them and headed off to work on her outfit. She fumbled with some red and white fabric she'd picked up just before their last shop and stitched a large red cloud on the front of her top. She then added three more around her skirt, in a slight rebellion against the fact that she never had and probably never would be able to get one of the official cloaks herself.

Now she didn't need one, she twisted in the small bathroom mirror, standing on her tiptoes to try and see the full effect of her handiwork. She grinned at herself, obviously pleased, and strutted out into the corridor in search of her only female friend.

Konan loved her outfit, stating that it was much better than a boring old cloak. To complete it, she made Akira a small, red paper rose for her hair, which she tucked into the top of her ponytail gratefully. Kiri rolled her eyes and mumbled something about her being a suck up, earning herself a glare from Konan.

* * *

**A/N: **I kept the shopping scene in just because I thought it added some humour to the normally dark mood of this fic.

I liked it… Sue me.


	15. Unexpected Bombshell

**A/N: **So this chapter has been edited slightly but is pretty much the same as two chapters from my old version of Remember Me. Edited to fit my new direction and hopefully better writing.

Dislclaiming Naruto because I don't own it.

* * *

**Unexpected Bombshell**

'A real mission? Why?' Akira stared in shock at the lilac-haired woman before her.

Konan nodded once. 'Orders from above. You're all going after the eight tails.'

'But why so many of us? And why me? Everyone knows I'm useless at physical combat…'

Kisame chuckled. 'That's exactly why. You're ability to gather information will come in rather handy in locating this particular Jinchuuriki.'

'But I still don't see why Itachi can't do it,' She turned to the Uchiha. 'You're coming too right? So _why me_?!'

'Because Itachi's methods more often than not leave a lasting impression. This time we need to stay hidden and leave no evidence behind.'

'No offence, but Deidara's methods aren't exactly discrete…' She glanced at the bomber, who rolled his eyes at her comment.

'No, but his method of transport is.' Konan patted her friend on the head, playfully. 'Are you out of excuses now?'

Looking around at the four members, she sighed. 'I guess so… When do we leave then?'

'As soon as Kiri arrives. Her technique of yielding the weather may be to your advantage.' Konan stated.

_Oh…_ She chewed her lip nervously as said redhead entered the room casually, nodding her head once at Konan, who mirrored her action.

So Akira, along with Itachi, Kisame, Deidara and Kiri, headed through the base for the exit. She stumbled into the darkness, vaguely aware of Deidara muttering something about hardly getting any breakfast. He formed three monstrous clay owls, and Itachi leapt up onto the first, followed by Kisame onto the second. Kiri had already settled herself onto the back of the third with the blonde, leaving Akira to scrabble onto the back of Kisame's.

The birds took off seconds later, Akira almost tumbling backwards off the tail. Kisame pulled her up in front of him, laughing at her glare as he did so.

'I hate these stupid things…' She mumbled.

'I heard that!' Deidara called over his shoulder, earning a chuckle from Kisame.

The journey would be long, six days in total. Itachi explained as they flew. They would fly solidly for two days with only the supplies they had packed at the base to live on. Then they would make a short pit stop in the Hidden Grass village to restock, and after another two days of travel, another stop in the Village hidden in the Frost. It was evident that he wanted to completely avoid the Land of Fire, even though it would cut their journey shorter by at least two days, though no one actually complained out loud.

Akira ran her fingers through her teal locks as they rippled in the breeze. She found herself watching Deidara and Kiri on the bird in front. They were chatting about something she couldn't quite hear, but a strange stabbing feeling shot through her as she noticed how closely they were sat.

She frowned subconsciously and shook her head to clear the feeling, wobbling slightly as she did and almost sliding over the clay constructs head.

'You alright?' Kisame's voice startled her, and her head whipped round to see his concerned expression.

'I'm just trying to rebalance. I… I don't like heights.' She murmured, it wasn't a lie, but that didn't answer his question.

He debated with himself for a moment before speaking again. 'They have a strange sort of relationship, those two.'

Her breath hitched in her throat at his statement. She remained quiet, listening intently as he continued, his voice low enough so that only she could hear.

'It's a sort of love-hate relationship. Deidara hates her, she gets on his last nerve, but she's passionate and lively and he respects that. Kiri, on the other hand, is harder to understand, especially after what happened between them… You know.'

She shifted slightly to throw him a questioning look. 'What do you mean?'

His forehead creased as he stared at her. 'You know, after you left, when she first joined Akatsuki…'

She blinked at him.

'Oh. I thought you knew…'

'Knew _what_?'

'N-nothing. It's not important!'

'_Kisame_!' She pressed. Something told her she wasn't going to like this.

'Erm, well they er…' He fumbled with the collar of his cloak, desperately regretting putting his foot in it. 'They got together… for a bit… you know… Like, together…'

Hardly able to believe what Kisame had just said, she had simply stared at him, open-mouthed. He had then gone into panic-mode and tried to explain that it meant nothing really and that Kiri wasn't anything special and that she was just one of his methods of forgetting about Akira, as though that made it any better.

Eventually, Kisame managed to collect himself and tried again to defend the blonde. 'To be fair, you did completely wipe your memory and had supposedly left for good…'

'Well, yeah but…' She clutched her skirt, balling her fists tightly around the black material. 'I suppose it doesn't matter… I'm just surprised, is all.' Despite her vague attempt to brush off the news and regardless of the complicated situation, it _did_ matter, at least it did to her.

'I shouldn't have said anything, I really thought you knew.'

'No… It's alright. I'm okay.'

The rest of the night passed quickly, Itachi stayed awake with Deidara, keeping watch while the others tried to get some sleep. Akira tossed and turned, unable to relax. Several times Itachi had to leap from his owl to hers to stop her from falling off. Each time she had grumbled that these things weren't made for sleeping on.

Eventually, two days passed and their first stop, the Hidden Grass village, came into view.

'We'll stay for six hours so Deidara can get some rest. Akira and Kiri, you two will go food shopping and Kisame and I will do a quick scout of the area. Meet back here in 30 minutes.' Itachi directed Deidara to an inn where they would come back for him later.

Fighting down the horrible urge to run as far away from the redhead as she could, Akira wandered through a small line of market stalls, buying several bags of fruit, five loaves of bread and three fish. Kiri strolled lazily behind her, ignoring her completely the whole time.

They met back up with Itachi and Kisame, who basically just told them they could now go off and do whatever they wanted for the next few hours.

Akira kicked a rough stone absently along the street she was ambling through. Deep in thought, she arrived in the town centre where the villagers were starting to pack up their stock from the market stalls for the evening. Checking the clock tower for the millionth time, she sighed. Still another hour to go.

Finding a bench in the corner of the square, she leaned her elbows on her knees and her head landed in her hands.

She found it odd that she hadn't seen the others since they had left to 'do their own thing', but then again, she was glad. She had needed some time to think. What would Haru think about her being gone for over three weeks with no explanation? He'd think she'd abandoned them… Or worse, that she was being held captive. Then there was Kiri, who she was at a loss with. On top of all that, there was the bombshell Kisame had dropped on her…

She groaned aloud, and shifted on the bench to pull her knees up to her chest. Her fringe fell as a shadowy curtain over her eyes, blocking the last few shreds of sunlight that were peeping over the buildings.

********** Later **********

When it was finally time to set off again, the blonde created three more giants, this time in the form of weird-looking winged chameleons. Akira automatically reached for the one that Kisame had chosen, but was surprised to see two cloaks already occupying it.

'Not this time, Greeny!' Kisame chuckled at her slightly peeved expression. 'Kiri's with me this time. See, you can't seem to balance when we're asleep and you're left unsupervised, so Itachi thinks you should ride with Deidara, since he can't sleep while steering anyway…'

Kiri raised an eyebrow when she didn't react. 'Erm, hello? You're over there!' She flicked her hands in the air as if to shoo her away, sneering when Akira frowned and stumbled backwards.

Deciding not to be petty and argue about it, she climbed aboard her assigned clay chameleon and scooted as close to it's head as she could, dangling her legs over either side of it's neck and using it's clay mane as a handle. Her stomach fluttered when Deidara shuffled into place behind her and, without further ado, the three creatures took off.

She was ready for it this time, and in her position on its neck she found it much easier to keep steady herself if she felt herself slipping. As the chameleon levelled out just below the clouds, Akira started to notice the view. It was quite a charming land, as the considerable amount of foliage did its job well in hiding the ugly brickworks of each building. As they passed over a couple of small surrounding settlements, she allowed herself to relax.

She had almost forgotten about her companion sat directly behind her until she changed position. She leaned back on her hands and swung her legs lightly, relieved to finally be enjoying the ride, but as she did, she was suddenly aware of his breath on the back of her neck. She sprung forward awkwardly, practically diving head first off the flying machine.

Deidara, of course, pulled her back on before she could plummet to her death, and scolded her for being so jumpy.

'Sorry… I forgot you were there…' She mumbled sheepishly. He rolled his eyes and shoved her back onto the Chameleons neck. She risked a peek over her shoulder, her stubborn inquisitiveness overriding her vow to remain indifferent. The bomber glanced up from a ball of clay he'd been twiddling between his fingers, a questioning look in his eyes.

'Are you angry with me?' She asked, unable to hold back any longer.

He looked confused. 'No… Why?'

She sighed and turned back to stare into the horizon. 'I just wondered.' She hoped he'd think nothing of it, but apparently she'd peaked his interest.

'I've hardly spoken you since we left, yeah, why would you think I'm angry?'

'Maybe that's why.' She murmured softly, watching the other two constructs as they glided ahead of them. There was less wind than earlier, but she doubted they could hear them anyway since the creatures were fairly far apart. Itachi seemed to concentrating on what looked like a map of the Land of Lightning, and Kisame and Kiri appeared to be absorbed in some sort of heated debate. Typical.

'Are you even listening, yeah?'

She suddenly realised that Deidara had been speaking to her and was now waiting for her to respond. She tried to come up with an explanation but before she could, his arm snaked around her waist pulling her backwards and spinning her round to face him.

His eyes scanned and searched her face, and she briefly noted that he wasn't wearing his scope over his left eye as the breeze brushed his hair to the side. Her hand moved of its own accord to press its palm lightly over the usually covered eye. He seemed mildly surprised by her action, staring cautiously as she withdrew it as quickly as it had come.

When the silence had become sufficiently awkward, he finally spoke. 'You know that prisoner we had, erm…' He frowned, trying to remember his name.

'Kota?' She asked, eyebrows raising in curiosity as to why he'd brought him up.

'Hm,' He nodded, his eyes not leaving hers. 'Something he said to you got me thinking, when you told him your 'situation' wasn't any of his business.' He kept his voice low and even, but there was a definite trace of unease lining his words.

She regarded him carefully, and for a moment, he looked as though he had changed his mind and was about to tell her to forget it, but he didn't.

'He asked if you weren't here by choice, yeah, but you didn't reply…' His voice trailed off, hoping she'd catch his drift.

Oblivious to his point, she stated bluntly, 'well technically you did kidnap me. Besides it really was none of his business…'

He dipped his head and dropped his gaze, briefly noticing that his arm was still tucked snugly around her waist, though she didn't seem too bothered by it. 'So… Do you want to leave?'

She blinked at him, surprise flickering across her features. 'What? Erm, I don't… No.'

'Huh?' He risked a glance at her from behind his long blonde fringe, unsure of what she had meant.

'I said no.' She answered honestly.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay so what's everyone's thoughts on that advancement? Anyone see it coming?

I have dropped a few subtle hints in previous chapters but you'd only notice if you reread the whole thing, which I doubt you'll want to :P


	16. Unravel the Truth

**A/N: **So I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. I've written a lot more conversation between the two of them in this chapter, and you get the actual story of how Kiri joined Akatsuki.

Disclaiming Naruto, despite wishing I owned it very badly.

* * *

**Unravel the Truth**

'No?' His grip on her waist tightened subconsciously, though if she noticed she didn't show it.

She shook her head to confirm, her gaze unwavering. 'No. I don't want to leave you.'

Whether she had meant him specifically, which he found himself secretly hoping that she did, or if she'd meant 'you' as a collective term for the Akatsuki, he wasn't sure. He gawped at her, mouth hanging slightly ajar as he struggled to think of a response. Torn between sweeping her up into a crushing hug or shoving her off the clay chameleon for making him so confused, he settled with releasing her from his grip and sliding back slightly.

He suddenly found himself thinking back to the Mist nin, Haru, was it? They'd seemed close. But how close was close? He knew she cared about him, that much was obvious. Then again, Akira cared about almost everyone. She was soft like that, forming bonds easily and happily befriending anything and anyone. He often worried about her naivety and liability to trust too quickly.

The more he thought about it, the more desperate he became to question her relationship with that Haru guy, but his pride held him back and he turned his attention to rolling a ball of clay between his fingers.

It was only after a few moments that he realised that two, inquisitive sapphire eyes still had him locked in their sight. Her expression was strained, as though she was trying to work out an extremely difficult maths problem.

'What?' He threw her a questioning look.

'Is that all? 'Do you want to leave' and that's it, end of conversation?' She snapped. She shifted into a kneeling position and rubbed the top of her legs as she spoke, clearly starting to feel the effects of the cold air. 'There's obviously something on your mind…'

He tutted and looked away, unintentionally confirming her statement.

'Are you sure you're not angry?'

'Mhm…' As much as he hated to admit it, he felt bad for making her think he was angry, he hadn't meant to.

Deidara found himself watching her again, a tiny smirk playing on his lips as she fiddled with a piece of loose hair that seemed determined to whip across her face to cover her eyes. It was only now that he began to see the subtle changes in her appearance from two years ago. Her teal hair was slightly longer and her eyes seemed older somehow, less innocent and less oblivious than he remembered. There was also a barely noticeable small scar added to her left cheek in addition the original one she'd had when he'd known her. He wondered vaguely how she had acquired such an injury again of such a similar size, but the thought disappeared as quickly as it had come.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he stared, mesmerised by the ever-changing shadows dancing across her face in the dim moonlight.

'What're you going to do about the Mist, yeah?'

Her eyes snapped up to his, surprise and a hint of fear flashing through her sapphire irises, clearly not expecting him to bring them up.

He chuckled humourlessly. 'I'm not stupid… I know you're worried, yeah.'

'I am.' She sighed, defeated. 'I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to just… abandon them… It doesn't seem right after they took me in for two years.'

'You did it to us.' His voice was so quiet this time she wasn't sure if he'd actually spoken, but the slight crease of his brow gave him away.

'That was different.' She muttered, her voice dropping to the same volume as his. 'Everything's different…'

Deidara opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it when she continued.

'I regret that, you know.'

He almost didn't believe her. Her head was drooped, her teal fringe falling just low enough to shadow her eyes. 'No point dwelling on the past…' He shrugged, pulling one knee up to his face, his other leg lying sideways beneath the raised one. 'Why's it such a big deal anyway? It's not like you're tied to their village or anything, yeah. Just promise you'll write them and leave!'

She rolled her eyes. 'If only…'

'Well, why not?'

'I'd feel bad! And anyway, Haru would never let me just walk out like that.'

Deidara snorted at this. 'Screw him! He doesn't control you.'

'No, but he'd worry and come after me!'

'Why should he? It's none of his business if you leave, yeah.'

'Because he'll think I'm in trouble!'

'He's not your mother!'

'He's just overprotective!'

'Do you love him?'

'It'd be rude to just–' She slammed her mouth shut, teeth clenching together as she stared in disbelief at the blonde, his words just sinking in. 'W-what did you say?'

He huffed impatiently. She knew exactly what he'd said, of course she did. He cursed mentally for his considerable lack of subtlety, but at least it was out there now.

'Well, I… I-it's not…' She stuttered momentarily, debating with how to word her answer. 'I guess I love him like a brother.' Face contorting into a puzzled frown, she added, 'Why?'

He almost flinched at her question. Almost. He suddenly found his ball of clay very interesting again, and began squishing it into a cube, not knowing how to answer her. Why _did_ he ask that? He had been so desperate to know now that he had barely spared a thought to wonder why himself. _Ah well_, he thought irritably, _I've started now._

He countered her question with another of his own. 'Does he love you?'

'H-he's just a friend…' She mumbled, hiding her eyes behind her fringe again. She wasn't sure, but sometimes she had wondered herself whether her brown haired friend did in fact hold some sort of romantic feelings for her. But why did this matter so much to Deidara?

Wait a second… _I've done nothing wrong here, so why do I feel like some sort of guilty criminal under intense police interrogation?_ She screwed her eyes up as she reached up to rub small, soothing circles on her temples. Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribcage that she even spared a moment to pray he couldn't hear it. _Why am I so worked up over nothing_?

Okay, time to face some simple facts.

Number 1, she couldn't deny that she and Deidara had been close, closer than normal when she had originally been with the Akatsuki, but that was in the past, it was long forgotten, right? He had clearly moved on…

Number 2, Haru may possibly have a thing for her, but if he did, the feelings were certainly not reciprocated, as fond as she was of the Mist nin.

Number 3, after she'd left Akatsuki, Deidara and Kiri… Well. That was the hardest fact for her to accept. It annoyed her to no end that, although it was in the past and there was nothing anything or anyone could do to change it, it had happened. But why should she care? _She_ left _him_!

Number 4… Maybe, just maybe, she cared because she may have felt a tiny little itty bitty bit jealous. But only maybe.

Sucking in a deep breath, she raised her head to look him in the eye. He was awkwardly fumbling with his ball of clay that was now close to resembling some sort of flower. A rose possibly? She felt her cheeks heat up at the thought, a brief memory flickering through her mind.

'_Oh hey, I almost forgot,' the blonde paused and fished in his pocket, retrieving something small and white. He offered it on his palm to Akira who, on further inspection, realised the item was a miniature clay rose. 'I made it last night after… erm, you know. I didn't really know what it was going to be until I finished, but I think it turned out alright.'_

_He rubbed the back of his head and grinned when she took it from him. Each section had been delicately moulded and crafted into a charming array of rose petals._

'_It's beautiful! I love it,' Her eyes lit up and the dimly flickering candlelight in the hallway danced across her iris's, illuminating their striking colour._

_A heated blush snuck up his neck and he turned away before it could reach his face. 'Yeah, umm, I thought you might…'_

Shaking her head clear of the memory and earning a curious glance from Deidara, she huffed and turned her back to him quickly, crossing her legs as she twiddled with her skirt.

After a few long moments, she finally found her voice. 'So how did Kiri actually join?'

He was quiet for a moment, probably wondering where the strange question had come from, before he answered honestly. 'She'd travelled from the Hidden Frost village all the way to the Sand, claiming to be 'on the hunt' for the Akatsuki and making quite a name of herself with the hidden villages, hm. Word got around to the Hidden Rain and then when Pein found out, he decided to do a bit of hunting himself.'

Akira snorted at his choice of words, but allowed him to continue.

'Itachi and Kisame were sent to 'collect' her, bring her back to Pein and find out what she was up to. That's when she asked to join, said there was nothing left for her in her village and that she had something to prove to a certain someone. She actually challenged Pein to a fight to show her skill, yeah. Rather her than me…'

'So did they fight?' Akira tilted her head slightly to peek over her shoulder at him, genuinely interested.

He scoffed. 'No. He sent her packing.'

'…But she came back?' She asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah, three times. Finally he set her in a duel against Hidan, hoping to get rid of her once and for all, yeah. Turns out she was actually quite strong.'

'So he accepted her?' It was more of a statement than a question, but the blonde nodded all the same. As an afterthought, she repeated something that had caught her attention, mumbling it to herself as she turned back to see Kiri munching on one of the loaves of bread ahead of them. 'Something to prove… I wonder what?'

Unsure of whether he was supposed to respond to her muttering, he stretched out his chakra to the ground below, trying to determine their current location.

'Then what happened next?'

Her voice pulled his concentration and his icy blue eyes flickered up to stare at the back of her head.

The blonde blinked slowly at her, not fully understanding what she meant. 'What do you mean?'

'With Kiri… and you?'

His eyebrows knitted together, wondering at first what she was implying. When he didn't respond, she sighed and turned to meet his gaze, her eyes confirming that she knew exactly what happened next.

Several emotions tore through his gut as he stared at the green-haired girl, who was twisting in her seat so she could watch him squirm.

Denial, in the hope that this was merely a stab in the dark in the hopes of getting back at him and that there was some way he could shove this all back into the dark. Surprise, by the fact that she had somehow managed to either figure them out or that someone had blabbed. Closely followed by anger at the thought that someone may actually have blabbed, and then finally guilt, because at the end of the day there was no denying the truth.

Her eyes glazed over slightly as she gauged his reaction, her throat suddenly becoming very dry as she spoke in barely a whisper. 'So it is true then…'

Deidara grimaced at her expression of disappointment, fighting back the urge to pretend that it was all a lie, which would inevitably only prove to insult her intelligence. He opened his mouth several times to respond, but the words all seemed to scatter as he prepared to speak them.

After a few painfully long awkward moments, one of the leading chameleons held back to float smoothly beside them, drawing their attention.

'I know we haven't been travelling for long, but Kiri senses a storm ahead, I think it would be best if we find some place to land.' Itachi's cool, hard gaze was a welcome distraction, and Akira spun her full body around to face him.

'Where are we at the moment?'

'We've just flown over the Kanabi Bridge, yeah.' Deidara cut in before the Uchiha could reply. 'Not far from the Hidden Waterfall…'

Her ears prickled at this, hopes raising in her chest. 'We could stay there… Itachi?'

The corner of his mouth turned ever so slightly at the hopeful ring in her voice and he nodded once in approval.

She allowed herself to relax back onto her position at the front of the clay construct, swinging her legs gently in anticipation. The thought of getting off this creature and being able to see her adoptive parents again soon managed to wipe the stresses of her previous conversation out the way, and she grinned, practically giddy with excitement.

* * *

**A/N: **So, let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far :)

Criticism is good, it makes me motivated to write better and motivation means more chapters!


	17. Trust Issues

**A/N: **More of Kiri's story revealed here, also, another certain character is mentioned that people are probably able to guess!

I hope you like this chapter, I worked real hard on this – I even went back and extended it!

Disclaimer: Blah blah.

* * *

**Trust Issues**

They found the village much quicker than Akira thought they would, excitement and nerves bubbling in the pit of her stomach as they landed outside the Waterfall gates.

Reuniting with her parents again was almost as heart-wrenching as the last time, except for the minor detail that her mother actually knew who she was this time…

The couple enveloped their long-lost daughter into a tight embrace, only reluctantly releasing her when Kiri cleared her throat obnoxiously from behind.

'Who're you're friends, dear?' Tenma smiled, turning to face them. His warm honey eyes landed on Deidara, recognising his features but not quite able to remember his name, who gave him a curt nod in greeting.

She introduced them quickly and explained that they were looking for some shelter from the upcoming storm, which was more believable now since the rain had started.

'You're in luck actually, there's a section of the village that's currently unoccupied, due to be auctioned off in the next few weeks. I'm sure no one would mind if you rested there for a few nights!' Alyssa grinned at them, her eyes lighting up hopefully as she spoke, though she failed to hide her disappointment when Akira admitted they'd be leaving again in the morning.

Kiri muttered something incoherent about not being afraid of something she could control herself, and that she'd catch them up later. Akira watched her curiously as she stalked off into the trees, but Itachi's voice caught her attention.

'We appreciate the hospitality,' he bowed his head in a gentlemanly fashion. Kisame grinned and inclined his head slightly too, uncharacteristically politely, for which Akira was grateful.

'No problem at all, any friend of Akira's is a friend of ours!' The couple exchanged smiles before turning to lead them to the far side of the village. _Oh if only they knew who they really were…_

She had to be thankful that the Hidden Waterfall was an oblivious little village, despite their Leader, Shibuki being particularly over-protective of their current Jinchuuriki, Fū, they had yet to learn of the Akatsuki's movements. As far as she was aware.

Alyssa and Tenma led the way through the puddles that were forming along the rocky streets until they arrived at a small row of wooden houses. Itachi and Kisame opted to share one of the first, larger constructs and bid goodnight to the others, while Akira's adoptive parents continued onto the next building with her and Deidara.

It was an old, slightly moulded log cabin, with uncontrollable ivy climbing ruthlessly across one of the walls. Deidara swung the door open and casually sauntered in as if he owned the place.

Stumbling blindly after him in the darkness, Akira shivered and tugged on the bottom of her cropped t-shirt as she scanned the room she had entered. It was bare apart from the necessary elements of furniture, as to be expected in a house such as this one for sale.

'It's not exactly warm and cosy…' Her mother began, the dim light of the street lanterns lighting the side of her face as she stood in the doorframe.

'It's better than sleeping in that!' Akira grinned and gestured outside, where the rain had really started to pour.

Tenma chuckled. 'You're always welcome here, you know that.'

'I know, I will visit more, I promise.' She replied sincerely.

Her parents pulled her into one final hug before throwing her one last reassuring smile as they reluctantly turned to leave for the night.

'Don't go without saying goodbye tomorrow!' Her mother called fondly over her shoulder, though they both knew better than to suspect Akira of ever doing such a thing.

Deidara had disappeared through another doorway leading into an adjoining room, quick to explore their new environment and leaving her alone to shiver. Blue eyes landing satisfactorily on the set back fireplace, she knelt on the floor and prodded lamely at the firewood pile beside it.

'Need a hand with that, yeah?' The blonde tossed a small white object into the dust beneath the log pile and, making a quick hand sign, set the fire in motion.

'Thanks,' She mumbled, shuffling closer to the flames as they flickered dangerously close to her hair.

Deidara leaned casually in the doorway of the back room, watching her closely.

He pulled a face as his mind began to wander to their earlier conversation. Why did he feel so guilty? It's not like he cheated on her or anything… So then why did she look so disappointed when he had inadvertently confirmed that what she'd heard was true? Kiri was a mistake, yes, but Akira had to understand that the girl had meant nothing to him, surely…

It had been about 6 months after Akira had left, and Deidara had barely left his room apart from to go on occasional solo missions that Pein managed to find for him. Nothing too important, but with plenty of opportunity for destruction. He was grateful to their orange-haired leader for that, but no matter how many explosions he created and no matter how beautiful they were, he couldn't shake the feeling of losing something far more valuable than art. Something he never thought possible.

When Kiri had first arrived, when Pein first sent her packing, the blonde had found it highly amusing that she had returned stubbornly, three days in a row with no sign of wavering on her decision to join. Then, after an impressive demonstration of lightning strikes and thundering tornados, he found himself holding a vague admiration for the weather summoner.

It had been harmless at first, a series of playful banter when passing each other in corridors, followed closely by the occasional flirty shove.

He had by no means been anywhere close to love when they had first kissed, and it was nothing even close to romantic. It was impulsive and rash, something he deeply regretted, but at the time, it had wiped him clean. All the pain, all the memories had just fallen away, his mind filled with this new and interesting passion.

It hadn't lasted for more than three months, never progressing further than second base. They had just sort of fizzled out. Or maybe it was him who had pulled away?

He mentally shook his head, feeling an overwhelming need to lighten the tense atmosphere that was already forming.

Moving to sit beside Akira on the frayed rug, the bomber tugged playfully on her hair. 'You look like a drowned rat, yeah,' he joked.

'Oh, so now you're talking?' She frowned, still not lifting her eyes to meet his.

'I was never not talking.' He scratched the back of his neck as he made a grab for a stick to poke at the burning ashes. 'I tell you what though, I'm shattered.'

The green-haired girl risked a glance at him. He caught her gaze instantly, throwing her a lopsided grin that made her heart skitter.

'What's lifted your mood all of a sudden?'

He sighed. 'I dunno, yeah. I'm just really tired.'

'I'm not surprised. You only got like, what? Six hours sleep in two days…'

'Five actually.' He yawned on cue.

'Is that why Itachi actually decided to stop again?' She wondered aloud, earning a nod from her companion. 'I should've known a thunder storm wouldn't normally be enough to stop the Akatsuki on a mission…'

He chuckled and they settled into a more comfortable silence as the night drew on.

********** Later that night **********

Akira awoke with a jolt at the sound of a door being slammed, rubbing her eyes sleepily as her vision focused on the intruder. Kiri.

She relaxed back into the couch she had been curled up on, slouching slightly and closing her eyes again. Listening to the redhead fumble around the cabin in the darkness, she found her eyebrows knitting together as she debated whether or not Kiri realised she was awake.

She was about to sit up when Deidara grunted from his position on the floor.

'Ow! Watch it, yeah!'

'Not my fault, idiot. Why are you on the floor?'

'Cause the couch is taken, duh!'

There was a quick, muffled 'thump' sound, and Deidara grunted again.

'Ow! What was _that_ for?'

'I _meant_, why are you in _here_ when there's a bedroom through that door?'

'Oh. The fire was on earlier and it was warmer in here, yeah…'

Next came a strange scratching sound, which Akira later decided was a match being struck, followed by a small hiss as the fire burst into life again. She resisted biting her lip as she continued listening to the pair chatter quietly about their mission and how they were planning on subduing the target when they eventually did find him. She felt guilty for eavesdropping, yes, but decided no harm was being done if she was simply lying here listening to what she already knew. That is until the topic changed.

'And what's Miss Sweet and Innocent over there going to be doing while we're getting all the hard parts out of the way?' Kiri sneered, and Akira could almost hear the eye roll in her tone.

'She's just here to help us find him, yeah. The Eight-tails won't be easy to locate with his position and relationship to the Raikage in the Hidden Cloud.'

'Can she actually do anything other than that?' Akira resisted a frown because, in all honesty, she thought the same thing about herself.

'…You really don't like her, do you?' Deidara's tone was hard to place, but if she had to guess, she'd put it somewhere between jokey and defensive.

Kiri snorted. 'I just don't trust her. Especially not with her new ties to one of the five great nations, not to mention an enemy to Akatsuki…'

'Yeah well… The Mist may be a problem…'

It was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of the flames crackling hungrily as they munched on the burning firewood, until Kiri's voice broke the serenity.

'They came after her you know.'

Akira bit down hard on her lip to hold in the gasp that threatened to escape. _Haru_!

'What? When, hm?'

'Before we left, two teams of three entered the hidden Rain, about a week ago, claiming to be on some sort of mission for an old friend of the Mizukage. But they were snooping, it was so obvious what they were doing.' Kiri scoffed at their lack of discretion. 'Didn't you think it was odd for Leader to be sending her out on a mission so soon?'

'Well, I just figured Konan had talked him round, yeah…'

'I'm not talking about Pein, you fool.' _Wait, what?_

'Oh. _Him_.' Deidara's tone changed abruptly to something closely relating to hostility. 'What's he planning…?' He trailed off, apparently lost in thought, for neither spoke again for a long while, and Akira had almost fallen back to sleep when their voices woke her again.

'Who knows? But I don't trust her. And neither should you.'

'Hmm.' _Hmm? What did that mean?! Does he agree?_

'Whatever. I'm going to bed.' The sound of footsteps trailed away into the back room again, and soon the fire's sizzling noises began to die down.

Something inside of Akira suddenly panged, a sharp, painful feeling that ripped through her heart and had her breathing short and ragged breaths. What were they hiding? Who was this stranger? No one had mentioned anything about Pein being demoted, and surely she would have noticed if another presence had taken up residence in the Akatsuki halls, right?

She shivered violently as the last of the flames flickered out, suddenly feeling very cold. Panic engulfed her, tears prickled at the back of her eyes, which she squeezed shut tighter to avoid giving herself away. She couldn't give in to these weakling feelings, she wouldn't.

Something touched her forehead lightly and she jolted backwards in surprise, eyes snapping open and widening in the darkness.

'Sorry, it's just me. You were shivering, yeah.' He withdrew his hand as his breath tickled her face, making her wonder just how close he actually was.

'I'm okay, I just… had a bad dream I guess…' She whimpered, mildly proud of her quick thinking and convincing lie.

'Want me to put the fire back on?'

She shook her head, despite not being able to see. 'I'm alright. Thanks though.'

She listened to him shuffling back onto the floor until his movements stilled, and she allowed herself to relax slightly, though her heart was still pounding in her chest. _Should I be worried?_

It was only then that the thought crossed her mind that, maybe, she should be the one with trust issues? After all, this was a group of the most wanted, dangerous criminals she was residing with, not some happy-go-lucky family of bunnies welcoming her in with open arms.

'Akira?'

His voice was closer than she expected, had he moved again? 'Yeah?'

'…Are you sure you're okay?' Unbeknown to her, he scowled into the darkness at his question. That wasn't really what he'd wanted to say.

She smiled softly, who was she kidding? Of course she trusted them. 'I'm fine, Dei.'

* * *

**A/N: **SO. I finally brought 'him' up again…

Dum dum dummmm, who do you think it is? It's kind of obvious I suppose, but Akira still has no idea so let's just play along for now :P


	18. Like Pictionary, but with Clay!

**A/N: **This chapter was just a bit of fun really, lightening the mood and then dropping it again, quite literally, at the end. :P You'll understand that reference if you read on…

So what are you waiting for?!

As always, I do not own Naruto… Why do I even bother, everyone knows Kishimoto owns Naruto!

* * *

**Like Pictionary, but with clay!**

Leaving the hidden Waterfall again was tough. Akira almost cried. Alyssa did cry. Tenma tried to comfort them and Kiri had rolled her eyes…

Itachi had chosen to change their journey again so now they would just fly solidly for the next three days and hopefully arrive by then, even though Deidara had grumbled about how it was alright for 'that damn Uchiha' to make such plans when _he_ was the one doing all the work.

The first day passed without much to tell. The second day was much the same, though that evening, Akira noticed their pace had begun to slow. Glancing over her shoulder at the blonde sitting behind her, she took in his expression. His eyebrows were slightly scrunched, his blue eyes were half-lidded and it was obvious that he was wearing down.

'You okay?' She questioned, offering a sympathetic smile when his eyes flickered to hers.

'Mhm…' He nodded, forcing a smirk. 'I've got more stamina than you give me credit for, yeah.'

Akira giggled as he went on to mutter about how he'd like to see Itachi last this long as they flew over a giant frozen lake.

Over the wind, she heard Kisame shout, 'You can tell this is your territory, shorty!'

'What's that supposed to mean Fish face?!' Kiri snapped back from the clay owl she was sharing with Itachi.

'As cold and bitter as the Land of Frost itself… You're the Frost Queen!' Apparently finding his joke incredibly funny, Kisame doubled over in laughter as Kiri glowered.

The pair continued to shout their insults at each other over the breeze as they soared across the lake, which looked to take up the majority of Kiri's homeland, The Land Hidden in the Frost. The sun had sunk below the mountains about half an hour ago, though their tips were still tinged with a golden yellow glow.

A soft smile slipped onto Akira's pale face as she stared ahead of them, her eyes skimming the orange, mountain-lined horizon.

'It's amazing…' She breathed, the wind rippling through her teal locks and sending shivers down her spine. The air was cold but fresh, and she inhaled greedily, vaguely aware of Deidara agreeing with her statement.

The night drew on, and the Akatsuki members were soon completely cloaked in darkness. Akira sighed and shifted on the owl she was lying on, failing miserably at getting comfortable. Rolling onto her side, she peeked up at the blonde who was sitting crossed legged, staring into space and leaning one elbow on his knee, his chin resting in his open palm. He looked bored.

Catching her gaze, Deidara raised an eyebrow questioningly when she continued to stare in silence.

Not knowing what else to say, she stated the obvious. 'You look bored.'

He snorted at her random comment. 'Not much for me to do up here when everyone else is asleep, yeah.'

'I suppose. Are you tired?'

'No~, I'm used to going three days without any sleep at all…'

She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm and turned away from him, almost slipping off the edge of the bird and mumbling her thanks when the bomber caught her and pulled her back on. Again.

Her back now considerably close to him, she shuffled uncomfortably until she could stand it no longer, sitting upright and facing him. She crossed her legs and sat with her knees touching his lightly.

'Let's play a game.'

He laughed. 'What? You're so weird, go back to sleep, yeah.'

Pouting, she listed a string of reasons, all true, as to why she couldn't comply. 'I can't sleep. My back hurts! This thing is way too uncomfortable and I'm not tired anymore… So let's play a game!'

He sighed in defeat. '…What game?'

'Hmm…' She tapped her finger lightly against her chin as she thought. 'Oh I know! Okay, so one of us will think of a thing, then make it with your clay, then the other person has to guess what it is!' She grinned, pleased with her idea, then adding, 'Like Pictionary, but with clay!'

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. _So easily amused._

He decided to humour her anyway, tossing her a small ball of clay and allowing her to go first.

'Okay. Here I go!' She began to press the clay into a small square, pinching the top to make a vague looking pyramid shape. She glanced up at the bomber who was holding back a cringe from her lack of skill at moulding. Reading his expression easily, she stuck her tongue out and ignored him as she continued, unfazed.

'Done!' She held out the little white object in her palm for him to examine.

'I honestly don't have a clue what that's supposed to be, yeah…'

She whacked him playfully on the arm. 'Well, guess!'

'Er~m, some sort of… tree?'

'No.' She deadpanned, placing the model on her knee so she could fold her arms.

'Then I have no idea.'

'It's meant to be a house!' She whined, picking it up again and turning it round in her fingers. 'It's not that bad, is it?'

'It kinda is…' He laughed at her pout, snatching the clay off her and squashing it back into a ball. 'My turn.'

'A bird?'

'Give me a chance to make it, hm!'

'…I was right though, wasn't I?'

'Shut up, yeah!'

She smirked satisfactorily, but did as she was told and waited for him to think of something else to make. When he was part way through, she guessed again. 'Oh, is it a dragon?'

'Mhm…' He hummed, taking the time to finish making it even though she was right. She watched, mildly fascinated, as he smoothed out the scales along it's back and twisted the tail into a neat little point. And then, just like that, he squashed it, handing her back the little white blob.

'Why'd you do that?' She sulked, feeling slightly sorry for the little creature's short lived life.

'Would you rather me have detonated it?'

'No but… You didn't have to just… _kill_ it!'

'If we keep everything we make, we'll run out of clay, yeah,' He stated matter-of-factly, though he _was_ amused by her reaction.

The game went on, well into the early hours of the morning and beyond. When the sun finally came up and the other members began to stir, Akira was pretty sure her skills as an artist had improved. Deidara disagreed.

'Have you two been doing that all night?' Kisame yawned as he sat up, stretching out on his owl.

Akira nodded, not wanting to break her concentration on her current half-made model.

'What's the score?' He grinned as she took a pause from the clay to throw him a triumphant smirk.

'Forty-one to me, just three for Deidara!'

'Only 'cause all your sculpture's are terrible and I have to guess what they are, yeah!' Deidara snapped, clearly irritated at his losing streak.

'Such a sore loser…' She tutted, holding up her newest creation. 'Kisame, what do you think this is?'

'Hmm…' He tilted his head and squinted at the tiny object. 'A shark!'

'Yes! _Thank_ _you_!'

'What?! He was obviously going to guess that one right, yeah!'

Akira jumped up, giddy from her success and slightly drunk from the lack of sleep. 'On the contrary, it's _obviously_ because my art work is by far superior!'

The blonde scowled but his voice remained playful. 'Oh right that _must _be it…'

'Damn right!' She did a little twirl and a wobbly curtsey to emphasise her joke, but she had forgotten they were flying over 5000 feet off the ground. Feeling one foot slip out from beneath her, she panicked and tried to straighten up, only proving to unbalance herself further. Deidara, still exhausted from the considerable use of chakra over the past few days, made a grab for her arm, but was just a split-second too late.

'Shit!' He hissed as he watched her, almost in slow motion, topple backwards uncontrollably off the construct and into the atmosphere.

She yelped in a blind panic, feeling like she had left her stomach in the air where she had once been. The wind roared in her ears as she plunged down towards the ground, twisting her body in a futile attempt to look back up to where the others were flying, praying to see one swooping down to catch her.

'Damn it…' Deidara had dropped the owl almost instantly after her, but it was proving difficult to gather enough chakra to channel into the bird to pick up the speed it needed.

'Deidara~!' She screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as her body span, the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her.

'Akira!'

Her eyes snapped open, wide with terror as her mouth hung open in a silent scream. He stretched out his hand, reaching mere inches from hers.

In the sky, Itachi and Kiri had both woken at the sound of Akira's cry, and were now watching helplessly from above with Kisame, though Kiri was watching more out of curiosity than worry.

'He's running out of time…' Kisame murmured, his eyes never leaving the plummeting pair. Time seemed to stand still as they both disappeared into heavy foliage below, and silence engulfed the hovering trio.

'…Did he get her?' The redhead wondered aloud after a moment.

'I can't tell, the trees are too thick…' Kisame glanced across to his partner who had already activated his Sharingan.

'They're alright.' Itachi sat back, blazing red eyes swirling back to black as he forced himself to relax. 'He got her.'

Their birds both suddenly began to rapidly lose altitude, dipping lower and lower until they too had merged with the forest. They landed swiftly, though not as smoothly as the Akatsuki members would have liked, owls disappearing beneath their feet almost as soon as they touched the ground.

'Looks like we're walking from here. Deidara's done.' Itachi confirmed. 'That last burst of chakra must have finished him off. He probably only lasted so long because of the steady, consistent pace we've been flying at.'

'Don't let him hear you say that!' Kisame smirked, knowing the bomber would furious at the thought of being belittled by the Uchiha, even if it was unintentional.

Further into the forest, Deidara sat hugging Akira to his chest as she quivered, her heart beating loud in her ears as she tried to calm down from the shock.

'You scared me to bloody death, yeah… You idiot…' He mumbled against her neck, tightening his grip around her shoulders.

'S-sorry…' She managed to utter, her voice barely more than a whisper.

He'd caught her just in the nick of time, leaping off his owl and yanking her arm up harshly, turning mid-air so that she landed on his chest and he took the brunt of the fall. It had knocked the wind out of him yes, but he'd technically only fallen from just below the treeline.

'Are you hurt?'

She shook her head against him, wanting to ask him the same question but unable to form the words. _How stupid. How pathetic! I can't do anything right, not even balance on a stupid bird that's wide enough for two people to sleep on!_

After a few minutes, he finally sighed, leaning back to examine her face. She wasn't quite as pale anymore, but her expression was still blank, staring straight through him.

'Come on, let's find the others, hm.' He muttered, gently tugging her up by the same arm he'd caught her with as he stood. She winced slightly and he immediately released her. 'Sorry… Can you walk?'

She nodded, clinging to his sleeve just in case. Deidara started to move forward, but she held him back, sucking in a breath and looking him in the eye.

'I-I'm really sorry…' _I'm so useless. I just get in the way…_ 'And thank you… Again.'

He gave her a soft smile and closed his eyes briefly. 'I'll forgive you if you promise to never play that game again, yeah.'

'Deal.' She managed a small grin and they began to walk slowly, both knowing that it'd be much easier if they let Itachi find them with his Sharingan but neither wanting to just sit back and wait.

They were just under a day away from the Land of Lightning, and they all knew that that's when the real problems would start. At least now they were on foot, they could start looking for trails to follow.

There's always a silver lining, right?

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**A/N: **Bit of a filler chapter I suppose, but I added the jokes and the fluff to keep you entertained. I like to think there's some more character building in this chapter too. :)

By the way, I just want to add that I am fully aware of how bad Akira is at basic ninja skills, but it's all part of her character. You gotta remember her abilities are all self-taught apart from the training Haru gave her in the two years she was in Mist!

Leave a review if you're liking the story so far! And if you have any requests for scenes or characters, let me know!


	19. Detected!

**A/N: **Review if you like this story, review if you hate it, hell, even review if you just don't care.

Thank you to those who have already done so, I love reading reviews, they inspire me and remind me that people actually want me to finish this thing!

Disclaimer: There's only so many times I can say I don't own Naruto…

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**Detected!**

Turns out, travelling the rest of the journey on foot was a much better plan. They had already bumped into six people who Akira had slyly sneaked information out of, wiping their memories when she'd finished and sending them on their oblivious, merry way.

They had not long since crossed the borders and entered the Land of Lightning, when Kisame's crazy sword began to pick up a large amount of chakra in the mountains surrounding them.

'Keep your guard up guys…' He muttered, small beady eyes scanning the rocky terrain. They were walking cautiously through a deep mountain pass, rough stone walls rising high above them on either side.

'Do you think it's the Jinchuuriki?' Kiri asked, strangely calm.

'No. There are several different chakra signatures flickering about. Possibly bandits. Possibly a ninja patrol squad from the Cloud village…' Itachi replied evenly, also irrationally calm.

Kisame glanced over his shoulder to where Deidara and Akira were trailing a few meters behind them. The girl was clearly dragging her feet on purpose, staying at the back of the group. It was a good job really, since neither of them were exactly fit for combat at the moment, but the shark man guessed it probably had more to do with the fact that Deidara was lagging behind too. He could see that the bomber was exhausted, and with good reason, but he hurried them all the same. 'Don't get left behind, we're in Lightning now, unfamiliar grounds and such.'

Deidara nodded, speeding up and chuckling to himself when Akira skipped forward beside him, to match his pace.

'What's so funny?' She tilted her head to frown at him.

'Nothing, nothing.' He smirked, keeping his eyes ahead.

She scrunched up her nose, deepening her frown to show her displeasure at his private joke, but decided not to question him further. She probably didn't want to know what he was laughing at anyway.

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly by the sound of a deep rumbling echoing around the valley. The five stopped in their tracks, alert and on edge as they scanned the area defensively.

It was Itachi who saw it first, a raging avalanche of giant rocks crashing down the jagged walls and heading right for them. The Uchiha leapt into action, sending a giant fireball forward and crumbling two of the large boulders to a crisp before they could land. Kisame followed suit, shattering a third with an impressive flurry of water bullets.

Kiri had already begun her summoning ritual, though her storm arrived much faster than usual since they were in the Land of Lightning.

Akira stood back, feeling helpless once again and slightly stunned from their display of devastation to the mountainside.

Beside her, Deidara was twitching irritably, obviously wanting to get in on the action and yet unsure if he had enough chakra left to do so. Throwing caution to the wind and being the reckless fighter he was, he gave in to his craving and thrust one hand in his clay pouch.

He smirked triumphantly when he withdrew his hand, unfolding his palm to reveal three white spiders. He released them, watching as they scuttled forward and high up the wall. Akira frowned when they crawled straight past the falling rocks and continued up the mountain. _What's he doing?_

She craned her neck as she squinted skywards, her blue eyes latching on to a slight movement along a ridge in the wall. Cloud ninja! So they were responsible for the rockslide…

'Kiri, thunder!' He shouted to the redhead through the rain, forming the relevant seals for his trademark jutsu.

She nodded and the thunder crashed in the clouds on cue as the spiders exploded, their target's cries of destruction muffled and disguised by the roar of the storm.

'Nice work, blondie.' Kisame threw him a grin and went back to fending off the tumbling rocks. They were, after all, supposed to be going as undetected as possible on this mission, so she supposed their method of killing any witness's worked in their favour. Though that wasn't to say it didn't sadden her at the thought of more death.

Panting lightly, Deidara repeated his action and, working around the noise provided by Kiri's storm, managed to locate and destroy several more ninja until the boulders ceased to fall.

'Katsu!'

Akira had to admit that the pair worked well together, even if it did send a small pang of unwanted jealousy shooting through her as she watched them. She shook her head violently. No! She couldn't allow such traitorous feelings consume her, especially not at a time like this.

Focusing her chakra, she turned her attention to the mountainside, stretching her it out in search of any other enemy ninja.

'There's two more, Northeast and retreating, fast.' She mumbled, eyes closing as she pushed further.

'Not for long!' Kisame growled, sprinting off in that very direction.

'And one more, around there.' She lifted one hand and pointed to the ridge above them. 'He's injured, not moving.'

'Yes I see him.' Itachi nodded, standing beside her, red eyes glimmering in the rain. 'Kiri, go after Kisame. Deidara, Akira, with me.'

He ran forward, leaping up against the rocky wall and heading for the ledge. Akira did as told, painfully aware that whatever Itachi was planning, it wouldn't be good for the ninja.

When she arrived on the overhead ridge, she had to hold in her gasp. The man had clearly not escaped Deidara's bombs unscathed, and she bit her lip as she examined the large, bloodied hole on his right thigh, the edges surrounded by scorch marks.

The Uchiha inclined his head toward him, hinting for Akira to get to work.

She knelt down hesitantly, scooting forward when he whimpered and backed away from her. Itachi moved to stand over him threateningly, halting his futile attempt of escape.

She touched her fingers to his forehead, dipping inside his mind with ease and scanning the memories that fluttered before her. From them, she managed to form a mental map of the Hidden Cloud which she figured would definitely come in handy later. She also tucked away various memories on their defences and the territory that this man's patrol unit was often sent.

The whole time she was scanning him, he never once resisted. She felt immensely sorry for him, cowering beneath her, too terrified and weak to even bother trying to stop them. Once she was satisfied with her gained knowledge, she took a brief moment to apologise in his head, so that only he could hear her, and then she released him.

He slumped to the ground almost as soon as she had risen to her feet, a kunai lodged firmly in the side of his neck. Scowling at the floor, she turned her back to Itachi, who missed the tears forming in her sapphire irises. But Deidara didn't, offering her a sympathetic glance before dropping her gaze.

********** Later **********

'So, according to the cloud ninja, the village should be literally at the top of this slope. As far as he knew, there are very little guard posts set up around this area. The village layout appeared to be very spread out, with a lot of open space between each cluster of houses and buildings.'

Itachi nodded as Akira explained what she had learned, while Deidara sat doodling with a stick in the dirt, and Kiri and Kisame grumbled about being hungry. They had stopped for a minor break, knowing that if Akira's information was correct, they'd need as much strength as possible once they entered the Hidden Cloud.

'How about the Jinchuuriki? Any ideas on his location?' Kisame piped up, his sword practically dancing at the thought of the masses of chakra the Eight-tails was supposed to possess.

'Well, he's close with the Raikage, brothers in fact, though they're not actually blood related. But as far as his location goes, that was pretty much a blank. He moves around a lot, not wanting to be contained or controlled…' She trailed off, pulling a face at the irony of what they were planning.

The group stood up, Deidara dusting away his floor pictures when they began to move again. The air was humid as they climbed, and although it was not as steep as some of the terrain around here, they still struggled slightly, unused to such environments.

'I guess this humidity is what brings the storms, huh?' Kisame mumbled, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

'Here.' Akira handed him a flask, half-filled with water. He glugged it eagerly and grinned his thanks.

'How many supplies do we have left?' Itachi glanced at her, since they had been alternating who carried the supplies and it was currently her turn.

'Just that for water. As for food…' She rummaged around in the backpack for a moment before replying. 'Not much. Two loaves of bread left…'

'Right.' He nodded, making a mental note to raid the next available market as soon as they got the chance.

Finally, they reached the summit, pausing for breath and examining the new sights.

'Is that the entrance?' Kiri pointed to a small, inconspicuous archway a few meters away from them. It was, seemingly, unguarded.

'Yep, though there should be two guards posted there…' Akira mumbled, her guard raising.

'Stay alert.' Kisame whispered, though his deep, gravelly voice came out louder than he'd intended.

'Still think she's useless, Kiri?' Deidara sniggered under his breath as they followed the teal-haired girl and company, earning an unimpressed glare from the redhead.

'So she got us to the village undetected, big deal.'

The area was quiet, too quiet for the Akatsuki's liking. There was no sign of the two guards that should have been stationed at the Southern entrance, which instantly had them on edge. Their suspicion only increased when the first set of houses they passed through all seemed to have been abandoned, and very recently.

'We should take a look around here, something's not right…' The Uchiha spoke quietly, activating his Kekkei Genkai and focusing his vision on the buildings around them. 'They all appear to be empty, no signs of chakra or even civilian life around at the moment, but take caution all the same.'

Akira made her way to the nearest building, a small stone cottage with vague wisps of smoke still trailing out of the chimney. She pushed the slightly ajar door open further, peering inside. It was a dining area, a family-sized table taking up the main space in the room, with freshly laid cutlery on each of the placemats.

Her brow furrowed as she stepped inside for a better look. The kettle still felt warm, as though recently boiled, and there were faint waves of heat radiating from the oven, even though it was switched off.

_This family obviously left here in a hurry…_ She thought to herself as her fingers swept over a dirtied butter knife lying beside a half-served loaf on one of the worktops.

'You think they're onto us?' Deidara's voice startled her slightly as she spun round, butter knife in hand, poised as a weapon. He laughed once. 'Don't think that'd do much damage, yeah!'

She stuck her tongue out childishly. 'You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!' Then she remembered his actual question. 'But yes, there definitely should have been two guards at that post. They might have sensed our chakra signatures and evacuated the nearby areas.'

The blonde ran a hand through his fringe, pushing it to the side as he rolled his eyes. 'This is going to be a right pain, yeah…'

'How are you feeling? Are you alright after… you know…' She dropped his gaze, still hugely embarrassed about falling of that damn bird, and suddenly finding her feet very interesting.

Listening to him moving closer, she held her breath until his hands gently cupped her cheeks as he lifted her face up. 'Forget about it, yeah. I told you, I have a lot more stamina than you think!'

'Hey guys…' Deidara released her now red face from his grasp and the pair snapped their attention to the doorway where Kisame's voice had called from. 'I think we have company.'

Sharing a worried glance, they wasted no time in hurrying to the doorway just in time to see Itachi and Kiri facing off with a very large group of serious looking Cloud Jounin.

Things just got very complicated.

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**A/N: **Cliff-hanger! So, what do you think is going to go down here?

Leave a review guys, it won't kill you! :)


	20. Tactful Retreat

**A/N: **Big fight scene in this chapter, tell me how I do, because usually I avoid these like the plague. I hate writing them and I suck at writing them.

As always, unfortunately, I don't own Naruto.

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**Tactful Retreat**

'_Akatsuki_.' The leader of the jounin group spat, a tall but burly man looking to be in his late forties. 'You have five seconds to turn around and leave with your lives.'

Itachi regarded him with cool, collected eyes as he began to count down from five, tantalisingly slowly. He barely reacted when the jounin reached one, simply staring with an almost casual gaze.

'Fine. You've had your warning, now face the consequences!'

The ninja charged forward, roaring as they ran, weapons at the ready. Some stood back, forming several hand signs as they prepared their jutsu.

Kisame made a deep growling noise at the back of his throat, thundering forward to meet them head on. He was never one to be afraid of combat, in fact, he craved and thrived from it. Deidara, still in the doorway of the house they'd been searching, began to mould chakra into his detonating clay, fists clenching and unclenching as he worked. Itachi still hadn't moved, though by the way various ninja were dropping like flies across the battlefield, Akira guessed that his Sharingan was heavily at work.

Kiri summoned a giant gust of wind that ploughed through the front lines sending several rows of Cloud ninja flailing backwards.

Not wanting to do nothing, Akira pulled out two kunai and jogged to stand behind the others, eager to serve as back up should any of them be in danger. She hovered close to Kiri at first, being a long-ranged fighter and therefore being vulnerable to close-combat. However the redhead moved around so much and so quickly that Akira soon realised that it was unlikely any of the Cloud jounin stood a chance at getting close to her, never mind keeping up with her.

She glanced around her, alert cobalt eyes landing on Deidara, who had just set off a series of explosions and taking out most of the jutsu users at the back of the squad.

She could tell he was struggling, though he'd never admit it in a million years, so she moved to stand closer to the bomber. And even though the Akatsuki seemed to be holding their own easily, she stayed there beside him, just in case any stray ninja managed to get close. She knew there wasn't much she could do in the ways of protection, but she could distract them long enough for him to get away.

Still without her whistle for her infamous Genjutsu, she did have her Taijutsu skills that had been improved, courtesy of Haru. She ignored the knot that threatened to form in her stomach at the thought of her old friend, now was not the time to be getting sentimental.

Backup had arrived for the Cloud, more skilled jounin at that, who were now forming a circle around the four Akatsuki and Akira. They had them surrounded, no going back now. She spared a moment to notice it was raining, but a quick glance at the redhead told her that it was intentional.

She managed to fend off two jounin that broke through the main battle lines, but she didn't escape unscathed.

The first had swiped at her with a long Katana that was glowing red, which she had narrowly avoided by the skin of her teeth, but she had leapt into the clear firing line of the second, who'd flung three shuriken that stabbed evenly into her right leg. Wincing but otherwise ignoring the pain, she darted to stand back to back with the blonde who was concentrating chakra into his palms.

'You alright?' He murmured, having noticed the blood trickling down to her ankle.

'Mhm…' She batted away two kunai with her own, too distracted for a comforting exchange of words.

The rain had recently changed to something close to sleet, making visibility difficult for both sides, a major flaw to Kiri's jutsu.

Relying only on her hearing and chakra senses, Akira did her best to focus on the enemies surrounding them. The lightning was the only saving grace, lighting up the battle scene and illuminating figures like silhouettes around her.

Two of what she hoped was Deidara's bombs went off to her left, and she spun around just in time to see two dark figures racing towards her away from the blast. A glint of silver and a flash of lightning that lit up their headbands told her they were enemies, so she braced herself for an incoming kick, crossing her arms in front of her face.

It landed hard on her block, sending her skidding backwards and further away from the bomber than she would have liked. The ninja then directed a swift punch to her gut that had her spluttering for air. Winded and struggling to see through the intense weather, she gasped as another foot came flying into her view line aimed for her head and knocked her sideways. She crashed into a hard stone wall, sinking to the ground and hissing with the pain as she clutched the side of her forehead.

A small sound of determination rumbled from her throat as she jumped up, somewhat awkwardly. The ninja seemed to have lost interest in her for now, giving her a mild advantage.

She was just preparing herself for a sweeping kick, that would have knocked her target clean off their feet, when her attention was redirected to the ex-Iwa nin, who had grunted in surprise. Three of the Cloud had him backed against one of the buildings, two gripping bloodied weapons and the third, who stood back slightly, was forming the beginnings of a lightning jutsu from what she could tell.

She knew from experience that Deidara's chakra was Earth style, which was notoriously weak against Lightning style, and in his current state he didn't look like he had much chance of dodging a direct hit either.

Instinct taking over, she stumbled forward into a broken run, eyes widening as the jutsu was released. A thick, jagged line of electric blue shot forward, perfectly aligned and flawlessly executed, heading right on track to its target.

Pushing chakra to her feet and without thinking, she dived, just in time. What she hadn't planned was a counter move, and she cursed as the electricity shot through her body and ripped through her head. It hurt. It really, really hurt.

Her brain now sufficiently fried, she squinted and winced as every tiny movement sent further jolts of an intense burning pain coursing through her blood. Her vision blurred, she couldn't hear anything and she was sure her tongue was bleeding as she clamped her mouth shut tighter, praying for the fizzing in her joints to stop.

She almost wished they'd just kill her now, anything to stop this torture. But they didn't, in fact, no one did anything to her after that, just left her, lying against the crumbling wall of the cottage where a family had once lived.

She felt her consciousness slipping away, into a dreary dream-like state as she imagined what had happened. She pictured the mother of the family, a young, healthily tanned woman, contentedly preparing dinner as she watched her two children, one girl and one boy, play fight on the rug by the fire. She'd smile warmly as she worked, while their father chuckled at the scene from behind his newspaper. A civilian family, she decided. Peaceful, happy and innocent…

She wasn't sure how long she'd been lying there, but she didn't care. So long as she didn't move, it didn't hurt. She supposed this might be how it felt to be paralysed, like a victim on the receiving end of her Genjutsu, how frustrating it must be. Though to say she felt frustrated now would be a lie, she wasn't sure there were words to describe how she was feeling, though defeated and exhausted came close.

Her eyes opened slowly, but her vision was now so blurred that she may as well have been looking into a kaleidoscope. She was also struggling to make out sounds, everything was echoing and several different noises were all merging into one. She let out a small giggle at the strange effect, it reminded her of the Akatsuki, when they all argued at once over the dinner table, squabbling about some insignificant issue like who's turn it was to cook.

She let her eyes slide shut. It didn't hurt anymore, she just felt numb. She wanted to sleep. _Sleep it off_, she thought, smiling softly at the thought of her adoptive mother's favourite saying, that sleep was the answer to everything. That, or a good cup of tea.

She let out a contented sigh, allowing the darkness to consume her.

********** The battlefield **********

It took the blonde a few minutes to recover from the shock. Itachi had arrived seconds later, instantly killing the three jounin surrounding him as though it were second nature. He had spared a quick analysing glance at Akira, before deciding that she was alive and disappearing back into the fray.

Deidara stared at the teal-haired girl, curled in a ball on the floor at his feet and smiling obliviously like a fool. She was alive, of that he was sure, her chest rising and falling rhythmically as she breathed. He shook his head, snapping himself out of it and scooping her up off the floor. When she didn't stir at the action, he slid her onto his back and released as many tiny spider bombs as his remaining chakra would allow, setting them off simultaneously. The Cloud ninja that didn't get caught in the blasts leapt backward to regroup, while the Akatsuki took the opportunity to retreat.

'We should back off for now, we must report to Pein-sama on our detection.'

Kisame snarled in distaste at Itachi's proposal, having been enjoying himself in the midst of battle, but turned to follow the Uchiha all the same. Kiri increased her summoning to heavy hail, decreasing the visibility even further to ensure their escape.

And then they ran. Though it was a strong and tactful retreat, they all felt a slight pang of annoyance that they couldn't hold them off for much longer. With Akira out of action and Deidara having reached his limits, this was their best option, to fall back and wait for the next order from their leader.

Kiri's chakra was also running low, and Kisame was moving with a slight limp. Only Itachi appeared to be unhurt, though that wasn't to say he wasn't tired as well, he just hid it better than the rest of them.

Once they had ran a distance that Itachi deemed safe, they stopped, Kiri slumping to the ground and leaning back against a rock, panting harshly, while Deidara laid Akira down beside him as he mirrored the redheads action.

Kisame leaned forward on his giant sword, the bandages now loose and torn, with lilac spikey scales sticking out of the material. 'So, Captain, what do we do now?' He raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha.

'Now, we contact leader.'

The four conscious members closed their eyes in preparation, placing their hands in the relevant telepathy sign as Itachi initiated the contact.

'Itachi.'

'Pein-sama. We have been detected in Cloud, engaged in battle but were forced to pull out, what are your orders?'

'What is the status of the team?'

'Akira and Deidara are out of it…' He glanced at the blonde, who barely had the energy to pull a face at the team captain. 'And Kiri is pretty worn out, but Kisame and I are still able to fight.'

'I see. Very well, return to base, mission aborted.'

Itachi raised his eyebrows slightly but replied calmly with 'Yes, sir'.

'Well… That was easier than I thought…' Kisame commented, moments after their connection with the orange-haired male was broken.

'You're right, it was…' Itachi murmured, seemingly lost in thought.

'It's almost as though this was the plan all along? Is it just me who heard an unspoken 'mission complete' in there?' The Shark man stroked his chin as he spoke, finding the situation very unusual. It wasn't like Pein to up and abandon missions like that, especially not ones concerning the Jinchuuriki.

'Hmm…' Itachi agreed quietly, before turning to where Deidara was sat watching the unconscious member of their team as she slept. His black eyes swivelled into red as he knelt down beside her. The blonde cast him a curious look but allowed him to examine her without complaint.

His fingertips brushed over her temples, feeling her pulse beating steady and strong. He checked each of her chakra points and was glad to find all of them in working order and even took a moment to note that her chakra levels were slowly but surely replenishing.

'Just let her keep resting like this and she'll be fine in a few days.' He decided out loud.

Deidara felt himself relax slightly. He was torn between being relieved and annoyed at her, but then there was that sense of guilt that plagued him too, after all, she'd done it to save him. _Stupid, reckless girl_, he growled to himself.

'So what now?' Kiri questioned the Uchiha, breaking the bomber out of his musings. 'We just… go home?'

'I guess so…' The group exchanged unsure glances.

'Well I don't know about any of you,' Deidara piped up, pulling Akira up into his arms again as they prepared to leave. 'But I vote we find somewhere to rest before we set off. I'm bloody knackered…'

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**A/N: **So, I hope Akira wasn't too useless in this chapter, after all, she did save Deidara. She really does try to not be so useless! Not her fault she's a weakling :P

Anyway, tell me what you think in a review, I don't bite!


	21. Spreading Suspicion

**A/N: **I'm interested to see what you guys think of this next chapter.

Threw in some fluff here for fluff-lovers and also got some of Kiri's evil plan unfolding. She has her reasons, but they are yet to be revealed… Anyone hazard a guess?

I don't own Naruto, only my OCs.

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**Spreading Suspicion**

Akira woke up abruptly to the sound of Kiri screaming bloody murder.

'DAMN IT, KISAME, YOU TWO-FACED SHARK MUTANT! GET OVER HERE!'

She sat up, startled, rubbing her eyes quickly before hurrying to her feet, swaying slightly as the blood rushed to her head at her sudden movement. The teal-haired girl blinked slowly as she took in her surroundings. She'd been lying on a soft patch of grass by a small, burnt out camp fire, which she figured had been lit until the early hours of that morning.

Judging by the height of the sun right now, she guessed it was around midday.

'How are you feeling?'

She flinched at the sudden voice, soft as it was, and turned her head to find Itachi leaning casually against a tree.

'I'm alright, thanks. A bit dizzy… What's going on?' She glanced around her, finding no other Akatsuki member in sight.

'I'm trying to avoid getting involved, but I think it goes something along the lines of Kisame taking Kiri's clothes while she was washing in the river over that way.' The Uchiha pointed through the trees behind her, rolling his eyes.

She stifled a laugh at his unimpressed expression and sat back down, wincing as she knelt on her injured leg. Folding the sore leg over the other as she leaned forward to examine the damage.

'We bandaged you up, but it didn't look too bad. Probably some light scarring.' Her companion commented, moving to sit beside her and offering her a clean set of bandages from his pack as she unravelled her current ones.

'Thank you…' She mumbled, concentrating on wrapping them neatly enough to stay in place. 'Where are we?'

'On the border between the Hidden Hot Water Village and the Hidden Sound. We arrived late last night and have been resting ever since.'

Akira's cast her sapphire eyes around the remnants of their camp, her mind wandering to a certain blonde Akatsuki member, whose absence was significantly noticeable. At least it was to her anyway. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as her curiosity deepened, subconsciously stretching her chakra outwards in an attempt to find his familiar signature.

'Deidara's not here. He's gone on ahead to the Hidden Sound to stock up on food.'

The girl raised an eye-brow. 'You left _him_ in charge of food?'

'Not my idea, believe me.'

She smirked at the unspoken mistrust in their comrade, especially where responsibility was concerned. As much as she relied on the blonde in more ways than one, gathering a reasonable amount of food that was both non-perishable and easily transportable, not to mention something that everyone liked, was not his forte.

Two hours passed of lazing around in the cool shade of the forest. Kisame was bored out of his mind, taking every opportunity to annoy the hell out of the redhead, who was still managing to find the time to glare daggers at Akira in between being harassed. Itachi remained impartial to their situation, purposely sitting out of arguments and barely batting an eyelid when the Shark man tried to pry a reaction out of his partner.

Akira couldn't help but feel sorry for herself, trapped in the middle of no-man's land with this lot as her companions.

Not long after the third and final 'discussion' about how tall Kiri actually was had begun, Deidara showed up, throwing Akira a grin when his icy blue eyes landed on hers.

He inclined his head to the side, gesturing for her to follow him and therefore saving her from the two bickering members. If anyone cared, she agreed with Kisame, because there was no way that Kiri was taller than 5'0, although Kiri argued that she was at least 5'1. Itachi watched them go silently as he debated on his own excuse to leave, being thoroughly annoyed by the constant and irritatingly pointless argument. To him, it was obvious Kiri was about 4'9…

Akira followed Deidara as silently suggested, stumbling over an overgrown tree root as she did so and earning herself an eye roll from the bomber. He led her deeper into the trees and across the river that Itachi had mentioned earlier, neither of them speaking as they went. Curiosity getting the better of her, she caught him up to walk casually beside him, sneaking several glances at his expression, though it gave nothing away.

He smirked, knowing the suspense would be killing her and finding it highly amusing that she had so far resisted questioning him.

Finally, letting out a long, audible sigh, she cracked. 'Alright, where are we going?'

He chuckled and shook his head. 'Nope, wait and see, yeah.'

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. 'We're almost there anyway, I spotted it when I was flying back from the hidden Sound, hm.'

Frowning suspiciously, she gave him a sideways pout but remained quiet, wondering absently how long they'd been walking for. No more than ten minutes, she guessed. Her thoughts travelled to their journey home, which would be when exactly? Had they abandoned their mission in the Land of Lightning? She was pretty annoyed that she'd been knocked out and had to be carried off to safety again, but at least she wasn't totally useless this time, right? She made a mental note to find out what their next move was later and continued to mull over the fight in her head. None of them were exactly prepared for an all-out battle with the Cloud.

She was broken out of her thoughts when the blonde stopped abruptly in front of her and her head collided with his shoulder blades. She stumbled backwards, slightly stunned, and scowling when he raised an eyebrow as if to say 'you're never going to get over that habit, are you?'

'We're here anyway.' He grinned, moving to the side to show her his discovery. Her eyes widened as she gazed upon the scene before her.

In a word, it was tranquil. A neat little clearing had been naturally carved out of the overgrown foliage to make way for a small waterfall pool. She lifted her head to see the top of the rock wall where the water was trickling over. It wasn't a great, rushing waterfall with a series of rapids leading up to and away from the fall, but she liked it. It was thin and quiet, spilling over a pale limestone ledge and into the small round pool at the bottom, which had two narrow streams leading away in opposite directions.

'So pretty…' She mumbled, wandering towards the falling water and leaping delicately onto a rock in the rippling pool. She reached out a hand tenderly until her fingers met the water, pulling back slightly in surprise and turning to Deidara.

'It's warm!' She exclaimed, grinning.

'Well what did you expect? We're right near the Hot Water Village, yeah.' He had moved to sit beside the edge of the pool, with one knee raised and the other folded sideways underneath it.

She jumped down from her rock and knelt down beside him, leaning forward to stare at her reflection.

'I suppose flying comes in handy sometimes, huh…' She muttered, reluctant to admit the benefits of his transport method.

He smirked triumphantly in response. 'If you didn't have such exaggerated issues with balance you'd be much more comfortable in the air…'

'Hey! It's unnatural to be so high up for so long!' She stuck her tongue out playfully, before shoving his arm as well, just to get her point across.

'Whatever, yeah. Call yourself a ninja…'

'Oh yeah?' She patted the water with her hand, flicking it sideways just enough to splash over his leg, laughing when he failed to dodge. 'Well you're reaction times could use a bit of work!'

'Like this?' He half-growled as he jumped up, wrapping his arms around her waist and hoisting her into the air easily, dangling her threateningly over the poolside.

She flailed as she giggled, squealing when his grip loosened 'No, don't! I take it back – I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'

'That's what I thought, yeah…' He sneered, placing her feet back on the ground cautiously, meeting her gaze as she spun in his arms to face him.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she realised how close their faces were, her sapphire eyes locking with his.

For a moment, neither of them dared to move. The smiles fading from their faces as they stared, somewhat calmly into each other's eyes.

Breaking the serenity, Deidara reached up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. 'I, erm, wanted to thank you by the way. For what you did, you know, in the Hidden Cloud, yeah…'

She smiled warmly, eyes softening as she replied. 'I guess I kinda owed you for the last few times you saved me…'

'Try few hundred times, yeah.'

'Har har.' She rolled her eyes, but his expression suddenly sobered as he spoke again, touching his forehead to hers and causing her to freeze.

'Seriously though. Thank you.'

'N-no problem…' She mumbled, feeling her face flush at the contact and suddenly very aware that his arms were still wrapped around her waist.

His eyes slid closed, moving closer so that his lips hovered over hers, brushing against them so softly and so quickly that she wasn't sure if it had actually happened. And then he pulled back, eyes open and glinting playfully as he commented on how easily he could have dunked her in the water if he wanted to.

'Y-yeah, whatever…' She muttered, still recovering then added more playfully. 'You wouldn't have done it anyway…'

'Right, that's it!' Without giving her a second to react, he shoved her backwards into the water, howling with laughter when she rose to the surface, throwing him an incredulous look which swiftly changed to a glare.

'Deidara!' She hissed, making a grab for his arm and successfully tugging him in after her.

She scrabbled to her feet and clambered awkwardly out of the pool before he'd even registered what just happened.

'Get back here!' He yelled, hot on her heels as she made a dash for the forest, picking up her pace as she ran like her life depended on it back towards the camp.

********** Meanwhile **********

'I'm telling you, she can't be trusted! No one else saw that map, she could have been directing us straight into a trap the whole time!'

Itachi rubbed his temples as Kisame snapped back at the pacing redhead. 'That makes no sense! She'd be leading herself into an ambush too if that were the case! Besides she jumped in front of that lightning jutsu willingly, in case you've forgotten!'

'Well maybe that was just to cover for herself, she knew she wouldn't die from that but could see that we were stronger than she originally thought!'

The blue man threw his hands up in exasperation. 'Kiri, you're overreacting. Just drop it already.'

'No, I'm not. Think about it, it all just seems too convenient that a whole army load of jounin were up there waiting for us to arrive. The village was evacuated and everything! Will you just admit that it's possible?! And what about our stealth skills? How else could they possibly have known we were there?'

'Well I'll admit you have a point that it was strangely well put-together… But it's highly unlikely that Akira would have anything to do with it, right Itachi?'

'Please don't involve me in your petty arguments, Kisame.' The Uchiha glowered at his partner, who brushed off his irritated response and turned back to Kiri when she spoke again.

'And the whole thing with the Mist! Why do you think leader really sent us out on this mission? Not because he trusts her with something this important at all, but because those damn kunoichi had been sniffing around the hidden rain for their lost comrade! She has new ties now, given the choice who do you think she'd help? A gang of S-rank, murdering, criminal missing nin, or her new, loving, welcoming family from a village fighting for 'the greater good'?!'

Kisame had to admit, Kiri made a good argument. But despite everything, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that Akira would go behind their backs like that… Could she?

His train of thought was broken when the girl in question darted wildly through the bushes at the edge of their temporary campsite, followed closely by their blonde group member, both gasping for breath and soaking wet.

'What the hell happened to you two?' He laughed, all ponderings on Akira's loyalty forgotten.

'She started it, yeah…' Deidara muttered, ringing out a handful of yellow locks.

'Liar!' Akira accused, crossing her arms. 'He pushed me in first! It was self-defence!'

'Self-defence by pulling me in after you?' The bomber scoffed, scrunching up his nose.

'Well, it was only fair…'

They continued to squabble as Kiri glared, turning on her heel and stomping over to disperse the last of the evidence of their campfire into the forest. Kisame watched her curiously from the corner of his eye.

_She couldn't be right… surely? _He shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Maybe he would ask Pein for his opinion when they got back. It couldn't hurt to be suspicious he supposed.

After all, two years had passed and a lot had changed since then. _Everything has changed…_

* * *

**A/N: **I was kind of nervous about posting this one, didn't want it to seem too cheesy or rubbish, so let me know how it was and if I could improve!

Till the next time!


	22. Konan's Intuition

**A/N: **I've noticed that I haven't actually had Zetsu appear in this sequel yet.

Then again, he was rarely in 'Erase Me', so I figure it doesn't matter too much, he's busy off on scouting missions anyway, but if anyone really wants me to bring him in, I can do :)

Guess what I don't own? Yeah yeah, you know the drill…

**Konan's Intuition**

The journey back to the Akatsuki base seemed to drag. She wondered if it was because of an extra stop they made by the Kanabi Bridge, or maybe it was because she was just itching to get off 'this damn flying contraption' and away from a certain blonde Akatsuki member who was sitting mere inches away.

Sitting on her bed now as she waited for the others to finish giving their mission report to Pein, she felt her heartbeat speed up and her breathing turned shallow as she thought of that moment with Deidara by the waterfall. Only 80% sure she hadn't imagined it, she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to calm down before her emotions ran away with her.

She stubbornly refused to start the whole trail of thinking about 'what it meant' and 'why he did it', because, if she knew Deidara, it would have been a spur of the moment thing. A mere means of communication between friends… Albeit close friends…

But despite her best efforts, she couldn't lie to herself when it came to her feelings. She really secretly hoped it had meant more than a simple thank you, though she squashed that hope almost immediately before the idea could properly wriggle its way into her mind.

_This is ridiculous, he probably hasn't even given it a second thought… Besides, I well and truly screwed _that_ up last time…_ Akira shook her head as she stood up, crossing the room to the chest of drawers in the corner. She smiled when she opened the first drawer, noticing that Konan had lent her some more clothes, even if they were more revealing than she would have liked.

Pulling on a black tube top with an average grey cardigan, and a short, black denim skirt to match, she tucked her hair up into a loose bun and wandered out and down the hall towards the kitchen. God, had she missed cooked food…

Two toasted bagels drowned in butter and a bowl of home-made ramen later, Akira sat lounging happily on her favourite cream-coloured couch in the living room, flicking through the few channels that were available.

'I'm sure they used to have more channels than this…' She mumbled, frowning.

'Yeah, well guess who fucking happened and cancelled the Jashin-damned subscription…'

'Hidan!' She grinned, realising how much she'd missed the unruly member and shifting slightly when he slumped into the couch beside her.

'Since you're back early…'

'Too late, I've just finished cooking!' She cut him off, taking a moment to roll her eyes.

'Well shit. And here I thought you'd have missed me enough to make one small meal…' He grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping into the cushions further for emphasis.

She laughed at his reaction, almost tempted to give in and let him off this once. But she knew if she did it once she'd be dooming herself to be Hidan's personal maid for the rest of her life with Akatsuki. She'd made that mistake before.

She finally decided on a program and dropped the remote onto one of the side tables, glancing over at the Jashinist when he failed to insult her television taste.

He raised an eyebrow at her. 'What?'

'Nothing… You seem quiet, that's all.'

'Yeah well, fucking Kakuzu's been pissing me off to hell and back lately. Such an old miser. I haven't made a single bloody sacrifice in days!'

'Oh.' She frowned at his issue, but the solemn looking expression was so foreign on his face that she couldn't help but try to cheer him up. 'Why don't you go see if Kisame's up for a fight? I sure he'll be raring to go since we didn't see much action on the journey home.'

'I might just do that…' He smirked and ruffled her hair roughly, making half of her bun fall out as she scrunched her face up in disapproval at his retreating figure.

Alone again, she decided to take the opportunity to seek out the only female she was willing to call a friend in the base. Konan was in her room, reading a book containing various medical jutsu that Akira would never understand. She greeted her warmly, placing the book on her desk as she invited her inside.

'Pein told me about the mission.' She started, gaging the green-haired girl's reaction. 'I heard it was a complete flop.'

'Yeah, you could say that!' Akira laughed in response to her friend using such an informal term as 'flop'.

'How was Deidara?' Konan asked, catching her off guard.

'W-what do you m-mean? He's fine… W-what do you mean?' She stuttered, falling over her words as she fumbled for a casual reply.

A knowing smile slipped across the older woman's face, keeping her voice even and innocent as she stated, 'Well it was a long way to fly, and after all that to be brought back home almost straight away, he must be annoyed?'

'Oh… OH! Yeah I suppose, he seemed alright though. Mostly tired.' She relaxed a little, but Konan's smile only widened.

'Why? What did you think I meant…?'

'What? Nothing! I was just confused… How've things been back here?' She rushed, eager to switch topics and almost letting out a relieved sigh when Konan let her.

'Things have been quiet. Kakuzu has cut the–'

'Television bill? I noticed. Hidan's annoyed with him too.'

'Hidan's always annoyed with him. I think Kakuzu's just upset at the moment with the rise in cost of food etcetera in the hidden villages.'

Akira chuckled. 'Poor Kakuzu. Having no money on top of being partnered with Hidan…'

Konan laughed in agreement, moving on to compliment her outfit and telling her that she should borrow her hand-me-downs more often.

********** Elsewhere **********

Pein regarded the four members before him, accepting their story of how the ambush came out of nowhere and stating that it at least gave them an insight to the Hidden Cloud's security and strength.

He dismissed the men, asking Kiri to wait behind for a moment. As soon as the door was closed, a new figure emerged from the shadows, dressed all in black save for one item, a brightly coloured orange mask…

'So Kiri. What have you got for me this time?' His deep voice sneered, and the red head gulped, opening her mouth to explain herself.

********** In Konan's room **********

A knock brought the girls out of their feminine conversation about practical mission hairstyles as Konan stood up to answer.

'Oh, hi Deidara.'

'Hey Konan, is Akira here, hm?'

The woman hid a smirk as she opened the door wider to reveal the girl in question lying on her stomach with her feet in the air across the bed.

'We've done the mission report. Pein-sama didn't seem too bothered about the whole failure thing, yeah.'

She nodded and he smiled, awkwardly shuffling his feet backwards slightly as he made to leave. 'Oh and by the way, yeah. Kisame said you owe him one and that if you ever send Hidan after him again he'll lock you in a room with Samehada for three days…'

'Duly noted…' She gulped audibly, but laughed as he turned to leave.

Konan hovered in the doorway for a moment as she watched him go, turned just in time to catch a small smile play across Akira's lips.

'Okay.' She said sternly, shutting the door tight. 'Spill it. What happened between you two?'

'What? I don't know what you're talking about…' The girl muttered, turning her nose up as Konan sat down beside her, raising an eyebrow.

'Akira~…' She pressed, unfortunately not dropping her game this time.

'Nothing happened! I helped him out a bit and he thanked me, that's all!'

'So why are you blushing?'

'I'm not! Konan!' She whined her name, hiding her cheeks behind her hands.

Shoving her playfully, Konan pried her hands from her face and grinned at her friend. 'If you don't tell me I guess I could go ask him…'

'Urgh… Fine.' She grumbled, pulling her hands back to hide her eyes this time as she spoke in a jumble. 'Isavedhimwhenthecloudattackedandwhenhethankedmehesortofkissedmeabit…'

Konan blinked. Akira held her breath. Neither of them spoke until Konan could hold it in no longer.

'Are you kidding? What happened? Did you kiss him back? Was it serious?'

'No, nothing, no and no! It was just a peck that's all, just a spur of the moment 'thank you' and nothing more.' She spread her fingers slightly to peep between the gaps at the gawping bluenette. 'He probably doesn't even remember doing it…'

'Akira, how can you say that? You could cut the tension in this room with a knife just then!'

Akira groaned and rolled over onto her back, throwing an arm over her eyes.

'And hey, it's not like you've never kissed before…' She chuckled at the glare she got in response, patting the girl on the head as she stood up. 'Come on, you can't hide in here forever. It'll only be more awkward if you keep avoiding each other like this.'

'Where are we going?' She questioned the bluenette suspiciously.

'Calm down, we're just going to have a nice cup of tea in the kitchen. I live here too you know, a girl has needs!'

Akira stood up reluctantly and followed her out, holding back an eye roll at the woman's caffeine reference.

********** Elsewhere **********

'Hmm, your hypothesis is conceivable, I concur. However, if you wish to make this a reality you're going to need proof, Kiri.'

The red head shivered at the way her name rolled off his tongue. 'Yes, I understand that, Sir…'

'As for the others, I don't have anything against you mentioning it to them as you did with Kisame. However, I don't want this to affect any of their missions, if there is mistrust amongst the members then there will be no cooperation. I do not wish for my organisation to be divided. Are we clear?'

'Perfectly. Thank you, sir.' She made to leave, but his commanding voice stopped her in her tracks.

'Oh and Kiri?'

'Y-yes?'

'I'll be wanting to speak with her myself soon, you know.'

She stared at him curiously, her mouth hanging open slightly, surprised by his statement.

'Do you understand?' He pressed, his harsh voice shattering the silence.

'Yes! O-of course, leader-sama!'

And with that, she left. It wasn't going to be easy creating solid, undeniable proof to have the whole of the Akatsuki side with her on this, but she was determined to try. There was no way that she was letting one stupid girl worm her way into Akatsuki and shove her out so easily. Kiri was not one to be overlooked, she detested being ignored, so she would show them.

She would show them all…

* * *

**A/N: **So what do we think Kiri's reasoning are? Any guesses? Or am I being too subtle? I'm being purposely cryptic with her meetings and opinions, because I don't want to make it too obvious just yet.

But it's all going to come out eventually. Mark my words…

Sorry it's been a while since I updated, I've been really busy but then I received a lovely review that made me get back to it!


	23. Long Time No See

**A/N: **FINALLY the moment you have been waiting for happens at the end of this chapter…

The tension has been killing me and I've been dying to upload, I wrote this scene a while ago and I hope it was worth the wait, and I hope you review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer…

* * *

**Long Time No See**

In all honesty, it wasn't that awkward, and if she really had to admit it, Konan was right. She couldn't just hide away forever, and like Akira had said herself, he probably didn't even remember doing it.

So she made a vow to herself, to push aside any unwanted feelings that may threaten to arise and she would do her very best to carry on as if nothing happened.

Currently sitting in the kitchen and wincing as she watched Hidan's dreadful attempt to cook, it was easier than she'd thought. They had been taking it in turns to make dinner each evening, though since a few of the members were out on missions, Hidan's turn had unfortunately come around again early, and he had yet to let any of them forget it.

'I'm just saying, if you all get food poisoning then don't come fucking crying to me.' He stated in the most innocent voice he could muster. 'Can't say I didn't warn you…'

'Will you just shut your damn mouth and cook, you complete and utter imbecile!' Kakuzu snarled.

'What are you even trying to make?' Akira wondered out loud, cringing as he slammed a piece of pork into a bowl full of bread crumbs, sending them flying everywhere.

Hidan turned to face her, a wild grin on his face as he rubbed his pork-bloodied hands together like a man possessed. 'Tonkatsu. Why? You wanna help?'

She tilted her head momentarily, seriously debating putting them all out of their misery.

'Don't do it…' Deidara warned, sensing her deliberation.

'You know he'll have you in here for the rest of your life if you do…' Konan nodded, having joined the table for once out of amusement at Hidan's wrath, rather than eating with Pein in the office.

'I know.' Akira mumbled, knowing they were right but still unable to relax. She glanced around the table at the few members that had arrived.

Kakuzu was glowering furiously at the wooden surface, appearing to be in deep concentration, though Akira figured he was probably just trying not to get up and strangle their chef. Beside him, Konan was leaning forward on her elbows, occasionally blowing into her glass of water and watching in mild fascination at the ripples.

Hidan had begun to hum, and she could swear she could see steam forming from Kakuzu's direction, his eyes bulging as if preparing to explode.

A thud from the seat next to her drew her attention to the last member who'd be eating with them tonight. Deidara had slumped in his chair and dropped his head unceremoniously onto the table, muttering something about being dead before they actually got to eat anything.

With a loud huff, Akira stood up, scraping her chair legs along the floor noisily as she did, stomping over to the grinning Jashinist and shoving him to the side.

'You're an idiot. I can't watch this anymore. Sit.' She commanded, ignoring him as he skipped merrily to an unoccupied seat at the head of the table.

'You _are_ an idiot.' Konan nodded at the silver-haired male in agreement. There was an audible sigh of relief exhaled from Kakuzu and Deidara's head rose from its position on the table.

'You're an idiot too, yeah.' He deadpanned, gesturing to Akira.

She glared and threw a tea towel at the bomber, who caught it easily with one hand. She continued to cook, unfazed by the earlier shenanigans, and finished the preparation of the meal much faster than Hidan could even dream.

The rest of the meal went by uneventful. It was when the food was sufficiently demolished were the problems began again.

'So… Who's washing up?' Hidan smirked, watching as several faces paled.

'Not me, I have some important issues to discuss with Pein. Excuse me, thanks for the food, Akira!' Konan winked at her friend and made her swift exit, leaving the others behind to bicker.

Several minutes later, they finally came to a fragile sort of agreement.

'…Why can't _she_ do it again?' Hidan grumbled, turning away from the sink having been selected to wash and being incredibly unhappy about it.

'Because _she_ cooked, unlike _some_ people, yeah.' Deidara snapped, finishing drying a plate and passing it to Kakuzu to put away.

'_She_ has a name, morons…' The older male cut in, not wanting to be left out of the argument.

_And _she_ is also still here! _Akira chuckled at their little system, finding it strangely docile for a criminal organisation to be passing cleaned dishes along the line. She had stayed behind to supervise them, remembering the time Hidan had been in the kitchen and had tried to sacrifice the table to Jashin in his rage.

'Where's everyone else anyway?' She asked suddenly, changing the subject before it got out of hand.

'Kiri's in her room, she came by before and grabbed some instant ramen, yeah. Said she wasn't feeling well…'

'Red-eyes and Shark breath were sent to do a scouting mission somewhere North of the Hidden Rain.' Hidan threw in, proud of himself for his choice of titles before Kakuzu clonked him on the head with a ladle.

'And Zetsu's off somewhere being Zetsu. No one has seen him for weeks…' The oldest of the three men concluded, holding out one hand against Hidan's forehead, keeping him at arm's length and easily stopping his attack attempts.

'I was starting to wonder where he was actually.' She mused, watching in amusement as Kakuzu continued to fend of Hidan's flailing fists. 'Hidan, I don't know why you bother.'

The Jashinist scowled and backed off, reaching for a kitchen knife and hurling it at the door where Kakuzu had started to head towards.

'And on that note, I'm out of here. I'll go check on Kiri, see how she's feeling, yeah.' Deidara announced, finishing off the last of the cutlery and leaving them in the drainer since Kakuzu seemed to have lost interest in putting them away.

Akira did her best to ignore the pang of jealousy that shot through her, her face contorting into a forced smile, thankfully, going unnoticed by the remaining two Akatsuki members as they squabbled.

Not wanting to interrupt their lover's spat, Akira slipped silently out of the kitchen and headed in the direction of her room. She needed some space to clear her head, preferably alone.

She reached her bedroom in no time, and went straight to her pack that she'd left on the bed. She rooted through it, slightly disappointed when she remembered that she still didn't have her whistle, since they'd left it in the Mist village. Then the guilt returned. How were they doing, back in the Mist? She hadn't thought of them for a while, did that mean she was forgetting about them?

She was mildly surprised that they hadn't come after her. If she knew Haru, he would normally have been leading the search party long before now. Was he angry with her? What if he thought she was a traitor and just didn't care about where she was now…? Then again, maybe he _was_ looking for her. Just because she hadn't seen or heard about him didn't mean he wasn't out there…

Picking up several kunai and shuriken out of the drawer of her bedside table, she stuffed them into her pack and tucked it securely against her hip. She needed to let off some steam, and what better way than to throw a few knives at an unsuspecting training target?

She started to head towards the training room, but decided to take a detour around the base and explore some of the longer corridors that she hadn't seen in a long time.

Akira passed the barely used medical room, smiling when she thought about how the closest thing the Akatsuki had to a medic was Kakuzu, brushing her fingers along the wall as she wandered deeper into the base.

Pausing outside Zetsu's room and listening for a moment, just in case the two-toned abomination actually was in, she found that Kakuzu had been right, hearing nothing but her own breath. She felt a little better, strolling the empty corridors of the Akatsuki's hidden base alone, but she still wanted to let off steam and so finally turned the corner that led towards the training room she knew so well.

As she neared her destination, she slowed down to barely more than an amble, noticing faint but familiar chakra signatures through the open door.

Now standing in the doorway, she could see Deidara and Kiri on the opposite side of the training ring, seemingly in deep conversation.

She swallowed hard, squashing the nerves that had strangely begun to rise and opened her mouth to announce her presence, when suddenly, Kiri's golden irises locked onto hers.

Akira's mouth snapped shut, seemingly frozen in place by the redheads gaze. Then, her amber eyes still pinned to the intruder in the doorway, with a quick and barely noticeable smirk, she closed the gap between herself and the blonde, who froze in response as her lips pressed against his.

Akira stared, taking a moment to realise what had just happened, before hot, salty tears began to prickle the back of her eyes. Her chakra flared uncontrollably, more from the shock than the stabbing pain that was throbbing inside her heart right now, and the sudden jolt of energy didn't go unnoticed.

Deidara broke away, spinning around just in time to spot a flicker of teal hair as Akira raced back down the corridor and into the depths of the base.

She could hear him calling her, chasing after her some way back, but she kept running. She didn't even glance over her shoulder as she skidded around another corner, taking the longer route back to her room and trying to lose her pursuer.

But he only seemed to be catching her up. Forcing as much chakra to her feet as possible, she changed course suddenly, darting through the dark hallways as her heart raced, silent tears streaming freely down her cheeks.

_I can't let him find me… He can't see me like this…_

Taking another, sudden detour, she masked her chakra completely and all but threw herself into the nearest room she could find, slamming the door and cupping a hand over her mouth to silence her panting.

His footsteps, to her relief, continued past her hiding place seconds later and disappeared deeper into the base.

She let out a broken sob, louder than she hoped as she clutched her chest and backed away from the door. She didn't even know whose room this was, it was too dark to make out any real details, but as she fumbled for the lights, she became very aware of another presence beside her.

She paused, hands flat against the wall that she had been searching, trying to pinpoint why this particular chakra signature seemed so very familiar.

'It's been a while, hasn't it, Akira?'

Her breath hitched in her throat, turning around so her back was pressed against the wall, eyes wide as she tried to see through the shadows. _That voice… So familiar, but I just can't place it…_

'Zetsu?' She guessed, flinching at the chuckle that followed, dangerously close to her ear.

'Let me help you with that…'

The figure leaned around her, material brushing her arm as the light flickered to life. She squeezed her eyes shut in surprise at the sudden brightness, before she slowly began to ease them open.

Her eyes immediately widened again, this time in horror as sapphire irises landed on one singular red Sharingan, surrounded by a swirling orange mask.

'N-no… It c-can't be…' She stuttered, jaw almost hitting the floor as she cowered against the wall.

The male smirked from behind his mask. 'Long time no see…'

* * *

**A/N: **LEAVE A REVIEW. If you've read it and you like it, review. Why would you not? :D

And I really want to thank the few of you who have taken time out of your busy reading schedule to review so far :) You are the reason I'm still writing this fic ^.^

Ps: Sorry for the cliff-hanger!


	24. You Ran Away

**A/N: **I haven't forgotten about the Mist ninja by the way! They're still out there and I do have plans for them, just not yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only the OCs.

* * *

**You Ran Away**

'Long time no see…'

'Y-you… It's imp-possible…' The tears flowed more freely now, sliding down her cheeks and falling from her chin like rain. She wanted to run away, to squeeze her eyes shut and never open them again, but for some reason, she was trapped. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring herself to look away. How was this even possible?

'But you're…' She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry as her voice broke. '_You_ _died_!'

'It did appear that way, didn't it?' His voice was quiet, but Akira could hear the amusement behind his words. He was enjoying this? This wasn't the person she remembered. This wasn't the friendly, happy-go-lucky, childlike fool she had befriended in the past. He was acting so different. His voice was different. Hell, even his chakra signals seemed so much… what was the word? _Darker_.

'Don't look so terrified, Akira. You should be happy to see me.' He leaned forward ever-so-slightly, and she was suddenly extremely grateful that he wore a mask so his breath couldn't wash over her face. That would make it seem much too real. Much too scary.

Still pressing her back harshly into the wall, the girl tried to focus her own breathing, taking slower, deeper breaths as her tears subsided. Finally, she managed to voice one small, barely audible question. 'Who _are_ you?'

He let out a short chuckle. 'Hmm, good question. You're a lot smarter than you look. I believe you know me as Tobi, unless I am much mistaken.'

She forced a nod, though the movement was stiff and painfully slow.

He chuckled again, making Akira bite down hard on her tongue, enough to draw blood as he continued to stare her down with one, gleaming scarlet eye. 'My name is not important, and it is definitely no concern of _yours_.'

She couldn't hold back the wince at the way he spat the last word, but when she opened her mouth to respond again, he pressed one long, gloved finger against her lips, silencing her instantly.

'It has certainly been interesting to meet with you again after such a long time, but I can see now that there is nothing further I wish to discuss with you at this moment. So for now, you can sleep. I believe you'll need it.'

His tomoe began to swirl, but, recognising this as a sign she was about to fall into darkness, she quickly snapped her eyes shut as she let out a shaky breath. 'Wait!'

He tilted his head slightly, smirking beneath his disguise as she pried one eye open cautiously to see if he would let her go on.

'Just tell me one thing.' Inwardly congratulating herself for not stuttering this time, she raised her head bravely to meet his gaze fully. When he didn't reply, she continued. 'Back then, when I thought you were really… gone, I cried so hard I felt like my heart was breaking. You were one of my closest friends…' She hesitated as she debated with herself momentarily, but seemed to reassure herself and spoke again softly. 'So why didn't you come back then? Was everything between us just a lie?'

He regarded her evenly, mentally phrasing his reply as she waited, still staring him down in an almost laughable attempt of confidence. 'You ran away.'

For a second, she faltered, wondering if she'd heard him right. '…What?'

'I didn't come back, but you ran away.'

And just like that, darkness.

********** Later **********

Deidara swore he must have run the entire length of the base at least three times by now. It was ridiculous, one minute he was right behind her, chakra signal strong and flaring undeniably and the next, she had rounded a corner and just completely vanished. _Call yourself an S-rank ninja_, a small voice in his head scolded as he stopped outside his own bedroom door, doubled over and panting hard.

Why did he even care? It's not like he'd done anything wrong, right? He shook his head and threw open his door in frustration, storming inside and slamming it shut again so hard the walls almost shuddered.

Seriously though, why was this such a big deal? The memory of her face in the split-second their eyes had made contact suddenly hit him. Her broken expression, a perfect depiction of shock, betrayal and regret. And then he knew why this was such a big deal to her, _and_ to him. He just couldn't… No, _wouldn't_ admit it. They'd been there once before and look how that turned out.

And then his thoughts turned to the source of the problem. _Kiri_.

Recalling the events leading up to their 'situation', he wracked his brain for any reason she had to do such a thing. He hadn't exactly been leading her on, had he?

As soon as he'd left the kitchen, he did just as he'd said he would. Except, Kiri wasn't in her room when he arrived, so he shrugged and assumed she was feeling better, changing course and heading to the training room where he had planned some long overdue artistic creations.

But then, lo and behold, there was Kiri. Leaping and twirling in all her 4 foot something glory as she fired a sting of chakra enforced shuriken at a row of training dummies. Most hit their targets perfectly, though one or two collided mid-air and bounced apart angrily to stab into the dirt floor.

When she landed and paused for breath, he sauntered in, throwing out some mocking comment about how she was losing her touch.

'I'd like to see you do better…' Kiri glared, but the corner of her mouth curved, giving away her teasing.

'Is that a challenge?' He smirked, coming to a halt not 3 feet from the redhead. A normal distance for such a conversation, he was sure.

She rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip cockily. 'A challenge would indicate some level of difficulty for me to beat you…'

As she trailed off strangely, seemingly distracted, Deidara opened his mouth to tell her to bring it on, when suddenly she crashed her lips to his. He froze, completely thrown off by her sudden action and forgetting momentarily how to react to such an action. That's when he felt the sharp prickle of chakra from behind him, one he knew all too well. His first reaction was to panic, shoving Kiri backwards and spinning round with an expression that could only be described as guilty child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He started to stutter Akira's name, but she spun and took off running down the corridor before he could muster his voice.

Her chakra spiked again, hitting him full force like a personal attack, which shook him out of his momentary frozen state enough for him to tear off after her, calling her name as he ran.

But, somewhere in the chase, he had lost her.

And then, a terrible thought hit him. Was that it? Had he actually _lost_ lost her, in more than a literal sense? He knew from personal experience what that was like, and while he wasn't exactly willing to admit why, he definitely did not want to go through it again. He let out a strangled growl of frustration and punched the nearest thing his fist found, which, unfortunately for both him and the object, was a wall.

He clutched his hand and sucked in a breath, eyes squeezed shut either from agony or anger, he wasn't sure.

Teeth gritted from the pain, Deidara paced as he pondered what to do, not only with Akira, but also his red-haired partner. He had to work with her, so it wasn't like he could just avoid her. Either way, there was inevitably going to be some form of awkward conversation at some point. Great.

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. _What a mess._

Before he could spare himself one more anguished thought, someone rapped harshly on his door, followed by a gruff voice that he recognised as Kisame's.

'Deidara, get out here. Urgent orders from leader.'

'Which one?' The blonde grumbled irritably under his breath before complying. 'What is it?' He snapped, expecting a jokey comment about his sour mood from the Shark man.

But Kisame's face remained deadly serious. 'Pein's called an immediate meeting in his office. All official members. Now.'

_Official members_. Not Akira. Akira wouldn't be there. 'Alright fine. Let's go then.' He muttered, trudging after Kisame who had already taken off down the corridor.

_Someone had better be dying._

********** The next morning **********

Waking up was hard. Harder than usual. Akira's cheeks stung from dried salty tears and she was sure her hair looked similar to an unruly bird's nest right now.

And then it hit her. Flooding back to her mind like an overpowering tsunami, so harshly that she would have stumbled backwards had she not been lying in bed.

Had it all really happened? She prayed momentarily for it to all have been a dream, but memories of one particular, reoccurring nightmare she'd once been having begun to rear its ugly head. That orange mask…

And then she recalled his reply. _I didn't come back, but you ran away._ What had he meant by that? She only 'ran away' days later, when she could handle the grief any longer. He could have returned during that time… Unless he'd been testing her? But the Tobi she knew would never do something like that… would he? And yes, she regretted her decision to forget them more and more every day, but there was nothing she could do to change the past, only to vow to herself to never to run from her problems again. In the end, it only caused more grief and misery…

Another thing was bothering her the more she thought about it. He hadn't answered her last question. Was their friendship all just a lie? It hurt just to think about it.

Then, yet another thought struck her. Had he been here this whole time, lurking in the shadows and hiding behind closed doors without her even noticing? Surely not… And then, was he still here now? Where else would he go? Did the others know about him being alive? Someone would have mentioned something by now, right? Kisame, with his notorious blabber mouth, wouldn't have been able to hold that information to himself all this time. Hidan definitely wouldn't have kept his mouth shut about it, she was sure.

Another memory suddenly resurfaced, a memory for her early days of returning to the Akatsuki base. That prisoner, Kota. His words rumbled through her mind like thunder in a valley as things started to slot neatly into place. _'__They are hiding something from you, something dark, a great evil.'_

So, he had been here all along after all. That fact had been staring her in the face this whole time and not one single member had mentioned it. _Why?_

She shivered involuntarily at the thought that this strange, unfamiliar character was so close and she'd had no idea. And he _was_ unfamiliar. The man she met in that room had not been her old friend as she remembered him. He was different. He was evil. Had something happened during the past two years that had changed him? Perhaps, he had only changed when he had supposedly died. Then, their friendship _was_ real, at the time…?

Her head was spinning so fast that she almost felt sick. However, she was far too hungry to stay in bed for much longer and so, despite her dizziness, Akira forced herself into a sitting position. Reluctantly sliding her legs over the edge of the bed, she reached for a glass that had been placed at the side of her bed, filled to the brim with water. Had _he_ left it here for her? Shaking the thought as soon as it came, she glugged it eagerly, before throwing on some simple black clothes and wobbling towards the door.

She had just placed her hand on the handle when more unwanted images from the previous day flashed though her mind, making her groan out loud and rethink her venture out of her room. The reason why she'd entered that room with _him_ in the first place.

She'd been running away… Again. Although this time, she figured she would let herself off for running from _that_ situation. But Akira wasn't going to leave the Akatsuki now. Not this time. She just needed to clear her head, since that had been a pretty big shock, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt. Hell, it really, _really_ hurt.

Clenching her fists as though clinging to the last ounces of her pride that were threatening to slip away, she strode out with as much mock confidence she could muster. The hallway was dark, as always. But there was something different that she now noticed. It was quieter than usual. No disruptive explosions in the distance, or the grumblings of the Akatsuki's money-tight accountant as he struggled to ignore the constant cursing of his partner. Just silence.

It sent shivers running down her spine to say the least, but she pressed on.

The kitchen was also empty, but, a quick glance at the wall clock solved that puzzle. It was far too early for the others to be up yet. Maybe she was imagining things.

Footsteps sounded in the hall and Akira's head shot up to stare in strained intensity at the doorway. And then her heart sang in relief.

'_Konan_!'

The bluenette spared a moment to throw her a curious look at her obvious exaggerated relief, but when their gazes met, Akira had to hold her breath again. Konan's amber eyes were clouded and tired, her mouth turned down in an almost solemn expression.

'K-Konan?' Worried sapphire irises searched the older woman's face until, finally Konan spoke two words so quietly that Akira wondered if she'd misheard her.

'Itachi's dying.'

* * *

**A/N: **I can't remember if I've said this before, but this fic isn't really following the actual events of the anime. It has similarities and I'm obviously borrowing details for the sake of plot occasionally, but yeah. It's different.

Let me know how it's going! Sorry for the cliff hanger!


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